Three Jehovah's Witnesses from Izhevsk Each Received Three Years in a Penal Colony for Their Faith

On May 13, 2024, Marina Khokhryakova, judge of the Pervomayskiy District Court of Izhevsk, found Maksim Derendyaev, Aleksandr Kutin and Sergey Ashikhmin guilty of extremism and sentenced each to 3 years imprisonment in a penal colony (the prosecutor had requested 7 years each). The believers were taken into custody in the courtroom. They intend to appeal the verdict.

As an additional punishment, the court banned each of them from carrying out any activity in public and religious associations for 4 years, and further restricted their freedom for 1 year.

The investigation considered the conversations about God and the Bible to be organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and in the spring of 2021, a criminal case was initiated against Derendyaev, Kutin and Ashikhmin. Mass searches took place in Izhevsk. As a result, Maksim Derendyaev and Aleksandr Kutin ended up in a pre-trial detention center, where one stayed for 3 months, and the other for 15 days. Sergey Ashikhmin was released under a ban on certain actions, taking into account the serious surgery he had undergone.

After 2 years of trial, Maksim Derendyaev, 38, said: "I have not been able to understand which of my actions the prosecution considers a crime. For 4 years, I was secretly taped. This is about 1,000 hours of conversations in a relaxed atmosphere with family members and fellow believers, including everyday topics, and not a single extremist statement!"

Friends help the families of the believers cope with the hardships caused by the unjust criminal prosecution: they support them financially and give them cards and letters with words of love and encouragement. Aleksandr Kutin, 41, said: "When letters from different countries and regions began to arrive, it made a strong impression on one of my neighbors — this is a real brotherhood, and when you get into trouble, they will not abandon you, but they will support and help you." In court, Kutin stated: "The criminal case was initiated and brought to trial with the sole purpose of prohibiting me from practicing my religion, which is not prohibited by law, and from living as is written in the Bible. The investigation is trying to make us out as criminals who broke the law. But we didn't break the law of the land."

Sergey Ashikhmin, 50, emphasized in his final statement: "There have never been any extremist motives in my actions, because love and extremism are incompatible!"

In Udmurtia, criminal cases were initiated against 7 Jehovah's Witnesses for their faith.