The case of Romanov and Others in Anadyr Romanov Sergey

 RUSSIA 

The case of Romanov and Others in Anadyr

Romanov Sergey

Updated: August 19, 2024

Name: Romanov Sergey Aleksandrovich

Date of Birth: October 15, 1975

Current status: accused

Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)

Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 246 day in a pre-trial detention

Current restrictions: recognizance agreement

Biography

Sergey Romanov found out that a criminal case had been opened against him for his faith when law enforcement officers raided his home. He was detained and later taken 6,500 kilometers away, from the Volgograd Region to Anadyr (Chukotka Autonomous Region), where he was first placed in a pre-trial detention center, and then under recognizance agreement.

Sergey was born in October 1975 in the village of Bukachacha (Trans-Baikal Territory). He has an elder sister. Their parents divorced when Sergey was 11. His mother is retired, she is a disabled person of the III group.

As a child, Sergey loved to read, play chess, and ride a bicycle. After school, he received a degree in radio engineering at a vocational lyceum. He worked as an electrician in a boiler room, a home appliance repairman, a watchman, and an administrator in a hotel. Sergey still loves books and chess, and he also likes to learn something new about animal life and natural phenomena.

In the early 1990s, Sergey got acquainted with the Bible. He was impressed by the fulfillment of the prophecies in this book, the explanation of the origin of life, and the factual accuracy of the Holy Scriptures, so in 1993 he decided to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

At different times, Sergey lived in Chukotka, in the Irkutsk and Kemerovo regions, in Moscow, and at the time of the searches he lived in the Volgograd region.

The criminal case and the recognizance agreement separated Sergey from his family and deprived him of the opportunity to help them in everyday matters. Family and friends are worried about the believer. They do not understand how such a calm, kind person can be considered a criminal.

Case History

In May 2023, the FSB in Anadyr opened a criminal case for faith against Sergey Romanov, Aleksey Volkov, Yuriy Yumashev, and Aleksandr Loshkarev. They were accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization. A month later, in the city of Zhirnovsk (Volgograd region), located 6,500 kilometers from Anadyr, the apartment where Romanov was at that time was searched. The man was sent to a temporary detention facility, then to a pre-trial detention center in Volgograd, and soon transported to a temporary detention facility in the city of Anadyr, from where he was later released on recognizance not to leave. There are at least two secret witnesses in the case, and the believers were covertly monitored for about two years.

Criminal case

Region:

Chukotka Autonomous Area

Locality:

Anadyr

Suspected of:

"Since 20.04.2017 acting jointly and in concert, [believers] by organizing and conducting religious meetings, carrying out missionary and preaching activities... involvement of new participants, as well as collecting donations, organized the activities of an unregistered religious group on the territory of the city of Anadyr, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Court case number:

12307770001000008

Case initiated:

May 5, 2023

Current case stage:

Preliminary investigation

Investigating:

Federal Security Service of Russia in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)