33 Jehovah’s Witnesses sentenced to prison terms since 1 January 2022
By Willy Fautré
HRWF (21.09.2022) – The persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses is going on unabated. In the last eight months, 26 of them have been sentenced for merely practicing their religion in private and put behind bars.
Here is the list of the last seven Jehovah’s Witnesses sentenced in September 2022 and serving heavy prison terms:
Aleksey Valeriyevich Dyadkin, 33 years (7 years)
Nikita Valeriyevich Moiseyev, 32 years (7 years)
Vladimir Nikolayevich Popov, 55 years (7 years)
Yevgeniy Viktorovich Razumov, 43 years
Oleg Grigoriyevich Shidlovskiy, 53 years (6 1/2 years)
Aleksey Vladimirovich Goreliy, 42 years (6 1/2 years)
Nikolay, Aleksandrovich Stepanov, 48 years (4 years)
They are prosecuted under Criminal Code Article 282.2, Part 1 (Organization of the activities of a prohibited extremist organization).
Article 282.2, Part 1 – Six to 10 years’ imprisonment, plus a compulsory ban on holding certain positions and/or carrying out certain activities for up to 10 years and compulsory restrictions on freedom for one to two years after release; or a 400,000 to 800,000 Rouble fine.
Case History
- August 2020, FSB officers raided 17 homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses in three cities in the Rostov Region as well as in the city of Kursk. Aleksey Dyadkin, Aleksey Goreliy, Nikita Moiseyev, Vladimir Popov, Yevgeniy Razumov, and Oleg Shidlovskiy were ordered to pretrial detention
- June 2021, a lawyer visited the six men at the detention center. They reported poor conditions, including cell temperatures reaching 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius), mold on the walls, and inmates infected with COVID-19
- July 2021, due to experiencing respiratory problems, Vladimir Popov was transferred to a medical unit at a different detention center before being subsequently admitted to a hospital
- September 2021, Vladimir returned to the detention center after being hospitalized for over two months
- November 2021, the criminal trial began
- For additional case information and personal details, see the below links (any images you see on either site can be made available for your use, upon request):
List of 26 other Jehovah’s Witnesses sentenced to prison terms in 2022:
25 August 2022: Vladimir Atryakhin, 35 years (6 years)
Georgiy Nikulin, 59 years (4 years and 2 months)
Yelena Nikulina, 54 years (4 years and 2 months)
Aleksandr Shevchuk, 33 years (2 years)
Aleksandr Korolev, 42 years (2 years)
Denis Antonov, 46 years (2 years)
06 June 2022: Vladimir Ermolaev, 34 years (6 ½ years)
Alexander Putintsev, 48 years (6 ½ years)
Igor Mamalimov, 46 years (6 years in a colony)
31 May 2002: Rustam Seidkuliev, 45 years old (2 years and 4 months)
23 May 2022: Lyudmila Shchekoldina, 46 years ‘4 years and 1 month)
Andrey Vlasov, 53 years old (7 years)
Lyudmila Shchekoldina, 45 years old (4 years and 1 month in a penal colony)
26 April 2022: Andrey Ledyaikin, 34 years old (2 years and 2 months)
19 April 2022: Konstantin Samsonov, 45 years old (7 years 1/2 years)
18 March 2022: Valeriy Rogozin, 60 years old (6 years and 5 months in a penal colony)
Denis Peresunko, 54 years old (6 years and 6 months)
Sergey Melnik, 57 years old (6 years in a penal colony)
Igor Egozaryan, 57 years old (6 years in a penal colony)
07 February 2022: Yuriy Saveliyev, 68 years old (6 years + 1 year of restricted freedom)
02 February 2022: Anatoliy Gorbunov, 64 years old (6 years)
25 January 2022: Anna Safronova, 57 years old (6 years)
20 January 2022: Yevgeny Korotun, 52 years old (7 years + 2 years of restricted freedom)
Andrei Kolesnichenko, 52 years old (4 years + 1 year of restricted freedom)
19 January 2022: Alexei Ershov, 68 years old (3 years)
17 January 2022: Maksim Beltikov, 42 years old (2 years)
Photo: www.publicdomainpictures.net