A Rostov-on-Don appeals court upheld Galina Parkova's guilty conviction for practicing her faith

On March 22, 2021, the Rostov Regional Court considered Galina Parkova's complaint against the verdict of the lower court. She asked to be found not guilty of committing a crime under the article "participation in the activities of a banned organization." But the appellate panel upheld the verdict.

The verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on her innocence. She has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation, as well as in international instances.

Earlier, the Lenin District Court of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Galina Parkova to 2 years and 3 months of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 2 years and 3 months.

Representatives of the prosecutor's office, A.P. Chebrikov and I.V. Napalkova, requested 3 years of probation for the believer and 1 year of restriction of freedom with a 4-year probationary period.

The criminal prosecution divided Galina's life into “before and after”. She is forced to do odd jobs in order to provide for herself, as well as support her husband, who has been in custody for over a year and a half on charges of “extremism”.

Galina Parkova herself has been under recognizance agreement for about 7 months, her bank accounts have been blocked. Together with her husband, they are included in the list of Rosfinmonitoring: a list of individuals allegedly related to extremist activities or terrorism.

On May 22, 2019, officers of the Investigative Committee of Russia conducted searches in at least 15 houses of Rostov citizens who were suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. So the husband of Galina Parkova ended up behind bars, and two weeks later, on June 6, 2019, a criminal case was instituted against her.

On the same day, investigator Kalnitsky opened criminal cases for faith under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 also against Olga Ganusha and Lyudmila Ponomarenko. Now women are under recognizance agreement.

Galina Parkova, using her freedom of religion, invited fellow believers to her home and discussed the Bible with them, and also shared her beliefs with neighbors and relatives. The investigation interprets this as participation in the activities of a banned organization and campaigning to persons who are not followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, all these actions are the right of every person, guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Russian and foreign opinion-makers and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.