Five followers of Jehovah's Witnesses from Krasnoyarsk and Kursk were given sentences of up to six years

In Krasnoyarsk and Kursk, five followers of Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to terms of up to six years on charges of participation in an extremist organization. This was reported by the press services of the courts.

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Krasnoyarsk sentenced 47-year-old engineer Andrei Stupnikov to six years in a general regime colony on charges of leading the local Jehovah's Witnesses community.

FSB officers detained Stupnikov in July 2018 at Krasnoyarsk airport while he and his wife were checking in for a flight at 4:20 am. The man spent almost nine months in jail. In November 2018, more than 20 Krasnoyarsk believers were searched as part of his case.

According to investigators , after the organization was banned, Stupnikov “continued to coordinate preaching religious activities, provided the necessary information, advisory and other assistance, and conducted seminars on teaching religion” (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).

The Industrial District Court of Kursk sentenced Andrei Andreev to four years and six months in a general regime colony, Andrei Ryshkov to three years in prison, Artem Bagratyan to two years and six months, and Alevtina Bagratyan to two years in prison. Believers Alexander Vospitanyuk was given a two-year suspended sentence.

Searches and detentions of believers in Kursk took place in October 2019, at the same time Andreev and the Bagratyan spouses were arrested . A few months later, Ryshkov was also sent to a pre-trial detention center, and Vospitanyuk was released on bail.

The FSB accused Andreev of continuing to lead the community after the ban, “convening secret meetings,” distributing religious literature and “preaching the ideas” of the movement (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), and the other defendants in the case of continuing to be members of community (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).

Jehovah's Witnesses were recognized as an extremist organization in Russia in April 2017, and since then hundreds of believers have been subject to criminal prosecution.