Three More People Prosecuted for Their Faith in the Sverdlovsk Region. Six Defendants Are in the Case Now

On May 19, 2020 the investigation expanded the list of defendants in the second criminal case of Pryanikov and others in Karpinsk. New suspects were Anastasia Pryanikova and the Zalyaevs. Now three Uralian families are being prosecuted on far-fetched extremism charges.

It is noteworthy that three of the six suspects, Aleksandr Pryanikov, as well as Venera and Darya Dulova (a mother and her daughter), have already been sentenced to suspended terms on charges of involvement in extremist activities in January 2020. The court decision was appealed, while a new criminal case was opened against the believers under part 1.1 of article 282.2 ("involvement in an extremist organization"), which implies a more severe punishment - up to 8 years in prison.

In March the house of Ruslan and Svetlana Zalyaev was searched as part of the investigation of this case. On the 19th of May they together with Aleksandr Pryanikov's wife Anastasia were included in the list of suspects under part 2 of article 282.2, and two days later A.S. Spirin, senior investigator of the Investigative Department of Krasnoturyinsk city, took from them a recognizance not to live and proper behavior.

It is noteworthy that Ruslan Zalyaev is not a Jehovah's Witness, nevertheless he is suspected of "participating in the activities of the Local Religious Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Krasnoturinsk by [...] holding conversations in order to promote religious exclusivity."

It is clear from the decree on the measure of restraint for believers that criminal prosecution is carried out on religious grounds. Svetlana Zalyayeva, the Pryanikovs and the Dulovs family are charged with the fact that they have not stopped communicating with others about God and gather for religious meetings - similar accusations have been made against entire families in the past.

"Harmless believers are accused of 'grave crimes,' but there are no victims or any signs of real crimes against the individual or the state in the case," comments Yaroslav Sivulsky of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, noting that groundless religious repression leads to open condemnation of Russia by the international community.