The leader of the Ashram Shambala sect was sentenced to 11 years in prison

The Novosibirsk District Court sentenced to 11 years in prison in a colony of maximum regime of the founder of the Religious Sect "Ashram Shambala" Konstantin Rudnev, RIA "Novosti" reports. He was found guilty of creating a religious association encroaching on the identity and rights of citizens, rape, violent actions of a sexual nature and illegal sale of drugs. The court also recovered 3.7 million rubles from the defendant in favor of the victims.

At the same time, the court freed Rudnev from punishment for creating a religious association due to the fact that the statute of limitations expired, which under this article is two years. Rudnev did not admit guilt. He and his lawyer stated that they intend to appeal the verdict.

The state prosecutor Natalya Yuzzhalina demanded the sentence of Rudnev to 14 years in prison. She stated that the prosecutor’s office would study the verdict in order to understand on what grounds the court appointed him three years less. After that, a decision will be made whether to appeal the court decision.

The former graduate of the engineering college Rudnev more than 20 years ago declared himself the Messiah, allegedly sent to Earth from Sirius to save people. Many adherents stopped contacts with their families and went into the Secto -founded Rudnev sect, where they worshiped its founder as God.

In September 2010, Rudnev was arrested in a cottage near Novosibirsk. When detaining the head of the sect in the building, there were 38 people. Among them were four girls who were wanted as missing and having lost contact with relatives.

According to the investigation, eastern, occult practices are based on the ideology of the sect. "The doctrine of the unification is religious. Members of the sect, mainly young people from 17 to 30 years old, lost their usual circle of communication and lifestyle by placing in specially equipped residential premises (apartments, cottages), where they had a psychological and emotional impact that entails in most cases the departure from the house, a persistent loss of family ties, reorientation from generally accepted moral standards and morals. Ethics for installations accepted in the circle of participants in the sect.

The department notes that the sect in the field of view of law enforcement agencies came in September 2009, when a criminal case was investigated on the fact of the unknown disappearance of a resident of the city of Berdsk, the Novosibirsk region. In the cottage in the village of Plotnikovo near Novosibirsk, investigators discovered one of the places of "gatherings" of sectarians. During the search there they found a literature of religious content.

Law enforcement agencies had previously tried to hold Rudnev three times to justice-in 1999, 2004 and in 2008. However, cases did not reach the court. This was due, in particular, with the fact that the sect members refused to testify against their "spiritual mentor", claiming that they entered the organization voluntarily and did not want to leave it.

According to law enforcement agencies, the sect was created in 1989 in Novosibirsk and now has its own branches in many cities of Russia. As previously reported by the head of the Center for Sectoralism at the Novosibirsk Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky Oleg Zaev, in 1999 the sect totaled about 10 thousand members. What is the number of sect today is unknown.