RUSSIA: A Jehovah’s Witness sentenced by the Supreme Court of Adygea to 6 years in a penal colony
The prosecutor’s request in 2024 was 9 years of detention for holding religious meetings online
JW-Russia (11.03.2025) – On 10 March 2025, the Supreme Court of Adygea confirmed the previous verdict issued against Inver Siyukhov: 6 years in a penal colony.
The Jehovah’s Witness attended the hearing via video conferencing from his pre-trial detention center. As he had spent almost four years there, he is expected to be released in a month as pre-trial detention periods are multiplied by 1 ½
Siyukhov sought to overturn the verdict due to numerous irregularities committed by the court of first instance.
The Court of Appeal slightly changed the sentence only in terms of additional punishment—the ban on engaging in educational activities was reduced from 4 years to 1 year.
It takes many Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia years to prove their innocence in court, but in most cases to no avail. At the same time, human rights activists in Russia and abroad note that these people are persecuted solely because of their faith.
The facts in brief
Operational-search measures against Inver Siyukhov from Maykop have been carried out, presumably, since 2018.
In April 2021, he was arrested after a search of his house and placed in a pre-trial detention center. The investigation considered the holding of religious meetings using the Internet to be an activity of an extremist organization.
In September 2021, Siyukhov’s case went to court. At the hearings, several witnesses mixed up their testimonies, and their words differed from the information from the interrogation protocols. Also at the hearings, it turned out that the psycholinguistic examination on which the accusation was based, was carried out by an expert who did not have proper qualifications.
In February 2024, the prosecutor requested a sentence of 9 years in a penal colony. A month later, the court sentenced him to 6 years in a penal colony. In March 2025, the appellate court upheld the verdict.
See the timeline of his case HERE
Further reading about FORB in Russia on HRWF website
Photo: Jehovah’s Witness Inver Siyukhov sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony (Credit: jw-russia.org)