Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly Digest August 16-31
27.08.2024 – Court of Cassation upheld the guilty verdict against Miner Valeriy Vyaznikov for his faith
JW – The Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok did not satisfy Valeriy Vyaznikov‘s cassation appeal against the verdict. On August 20, 2024, the panel of judges decided to leave the sentence unchanged – 2.5 years suspended for conversations about God.
Speaking before the court, Valeriy expressed his disagreement with the court’s decisions. He said: “I was actually sentenced for being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, not for doing anything unlawful. The basis of the criminal case was the fact that the only time I was present at a Bible discussion with a person who was interested in this book… I just wanted the person I was having a conversation with via video to get accurate knowledge from the Bible… and find peace of mind.”
Already 58 Jehovah’s Witnesses from Primorye Territory, including Valeriy Vyaznikov, have faced criminal prosecution for their faith – this is more than in any other region of the Russian Federation.
26.08.2024 – In Tatarstan, an Irish citizen was fined and expelled from the country for “illegal missionary work”
Sova – On July 31, 2024, the Zelenodolsk City Court of Tatarstan fined an Irish citizen for “illegal missionary work” and expelled him from the country.
The offense of the citizen of Ireland Hugh Tervey, according to the court, was that he “participated in religious activities in the form of the festival “Shravanam Kirtanam”, where he conducted religious spiritual practices “Sankirtana”, lectures on Vaishnavism, sang the mantras “Hari Krishna”, did not have permits for the implementation of the above activities, entered for tourism purposes”.
26.08.2024 – New raids against believers in Karachay-Cherkessia and Stavropol.
Sova – On August 9, 2024, searches were carried out in three homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Karachay-Cherkessia and Stavropol. It is already the third invasion of the homes of believers by the security forces. Three criminal cases were initiated under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC.
In the village of Kardonikskaya, searches were carried out at the homes of Maria Ogoreva, 62, and her daughter Svetlana, as well as at Tatyana Pasynkova, 59, the mother of Aleksey Pasynkov. On the same day in Stavropol, FSB officers searched the house of Aleksey, this time in the case against his wife Yulia. The couple are raising a disabled child who is completely dependent on the help of his parents.
24.08.2024 – The verdict in one of the two cases against Yevgeniy Sokolov has entered into force.
JW – On August 20, 2024, an appeal in the Amur Regional Court left the verdict unchanged in the case against Yevgeniy Sokolov in Zeya. The believer could not attend the court hearing in person, so he took part in it via video conferencing.
Addressing the panel in the court of appeal, Yevgeniy stated that Jehovah’s Witnesses are citizens who respect the authorities, observe the laws of their country, pay taxes and do not participate in protests. He noted: “We don’t just pretend to be law-abiding people… We truly serve God, and our words are not at variance with our deeds.”
23.08.2024 – Another Moscow priest was deprived of his rank for refusing to pray for victory
Sova – The clergyman of the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Bearing Spring” in Bibirev, priest Andrei Kudrin, who refused to read the “Prayer for Holy Russia”, was banned from serving and deprived of his rank.
On April 4, 2024, by decree of the patriarch, the cleric of the Moscow Church of the Icon of the Mother of God “Life-Giving Source” in Bibirev, priest Andrei Kudrin was dismissed from office and banned from the priesthood until the end of the consideration of his case in the disciplinary commission under the Diocesan Council of Moscow.
23.08.2024 – Court gave pensioner, 63, from Magnitogorsk a 6-year suspended sentence for his faith
JW – The Ordzhonikidze District Court of Magnitogorsk issued a guilty verdict in the case of Aleksandr Salnikov, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On August 22, 2024, Judge Olga Prokopenko equated holding peaceful meetings for worship with organizing the activity of an extremist organization.
Salnikov is a man with 40 years of work experience, he has repeatedly received awards for high professionalism, including a certificate of honor from the head of Magnitogorsk. Now Aleksandr and his wife are non-working pensioners, so adding the believer to the Rosfinmonitoring list, the blocking of his bank and social benefit cards seriously affected the financial situation of the family.
22.08.2024 – In Izhevsk, a case was opened against the pastor under Art. 239 of the Criminal Code
Sova – On February 2, 2024, it became known that a case under Part 1 of Art. 239 of the Criminal Code (creation of a religious association whose activities involve violence against citizens or other harm to their health, as well as the management of such an association). The accused is the head of a religious organization.
We are talking about the pastor of the Local Religious Organization of Evangelical Christians (Pentecostal) “Church “Light to Peace”” Sergei Artemyev.
According to the investigation, from 2019 to January 2024, as a pastor, he “held weekly services to parishioners on a paid basis, during which intentionally, consciously used and systematically used: methods of psychological impact on the person, <…> psychological violence” in order to “further receive money from the parishioners” and to extract “financial profit from the controlled followers”.
20.08.2024 – In Tuapse, the court fined a Baptist pastor for “illegal missionary work”
Sova – On July 24, 2024, the Tuapse City Court of the Krasnodar Territory brought Baptist pastor Anatoly Mukhin to administrative responsibility for “illegal missionary work”.
The court found that on June 23, Mukhin held a service of an unregistered religious group, in which he involved two non-Baptist believers. Before that, he spread “information about his faith on the Internet”.
The prosecution was based on the testimony of two witnesses. One of them reported that he reported a brochure about Baptists from a strange man on Tuapse Street and came to the service because “he became interested because he is a Christian” (spelling and punctuation of the source are preserved – Ed.) At the service, he realized that “the Baptists denied weapons and any military activity, which contradicts his worldview, since he supports the SVO”.
19.08.2024 – In the Tula region, the owner of the cafe was fined for organizing a prayer room
Sova – On August 17, 2024, it became known that in the Venevsky district of the Tula region, the court fined the owner of the cafe for organizing a prayer room.
The inspection established that A., a 47-year-old native of Dagestan, equipped a prayer room with appropriate attributes next to the Dolphin cafe in the village of Karniki. The room operated for five years, the entrance to the room was free for everyone. A. had no documents confirming the authority to conduct missionary activities.
The owner of the cafe admitted her guilt. The court sentenced her to a fine of five thousand rubles.
16.08.2024 – The Russian Church presented its goods for “earthly and heavenly protection” at a military forum
European Times – The Tenth International Military-Technical Forum “Army – 2024” held from August 12 to 14 at the “Patriot” Congress and Exhibition Center (Kubinka, Moscow Region).
The event is presented as the world’s leading exhibition of armaments and military equipment, but this year the forum is held in a much more modest format, with representatives from Iran, Belarus, North Korea, Vietnam and China present. Due to the circumstances, the traditional military shows at the Kubinka airport and the Alabino training ground will not be held this year.
16.08.2024 – Another guilty verdict against one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Ivanovo Region.
JW – A year and a half of hearings in the case of Andrey Okhapkin in the Kineshma City Court ended with a guilty verdict. On August 13, 2024, the believer was heavily fined for organizing extremist activitiy — by this the investigation meant talking about the Bible, singing religious songs and praying.
Okhapkin does not admit his guilt. In his final statement, he stated: “I don’t need to resort to illegal actions to practice my religion. Neither it nor the ways in which it is practiced are prohibited by Russian law or the courts.” Andrey continued: “My God… demands that his worshipers show love, mercy, peacefulness, kindness, respect to all people regardless of their nationality, religion and social status. What extremism can we talk about?!”
16.08.2024 – Two Falun Gong practitioners detained in Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Bitter Winter – Media outlets from Russia and China announced last week that a court in the Krasnodar Krai region in Russia has detained two individuals who were coordinating a local Falun Gong group. The arrests were confirmed by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Kuban.
A law enforcement source informed the state-owned wire agency “RIA Novosti” that a series of searches targeting members of the movement were carried out by security forces in Krasnodar Krai. These actions are part of the proceedings of a criminal case initiated in July, under Article 284.1 Part 3 of the Russian Criminal Code—pertaining to organizing the activities of an “undesirable” non-governmental organization.