Unjust Verdicts

An Appeal in Chelyabinsk Left Unchanged Snezhinsk-Based Lyudmila Salikova's, 70, Sentence — A Six-Year Suspended Sentence for Practicing Her Faith in Jehovah God

Chelyabinsk Region

On March 17, 2022, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court, with the participation of state prosecutor Sergey Gorshkov, considered the appeal of Lyudmila Salikova and approved the sentence—6 years of suspende sentence for believing in Jehovah God.

The panel of judges, chaired by Alexandr Rozhnov, considered the verdict of the first instance justified, despite the fact that there is not a single fact of the defendant committing extremist actions in the case file. The testimonies of witnesses also refuted the accusations, and the attached expert examination was carried out by persons without a religious education.

In her last speech, Lyudmila Salikova, a veteran of labor and the nuclear industry, said: “Since I became acquainted with the Bible and became a Jehovah's Witness, the commandments ‘love God’ and ‘love your neighbor’ have become the main principles in my life. I try to show love not only to my fellow believers, but even to those who do not share my religious beliefs, who betray me and oppose me. It is impossible to deny that love and extremism are two completely opposite concepts”.

The verdict has entered into force. The believer considers the decision unfair and insists on her innocence. The criminal prosecution damaged her reputation and she had to resign from the Municipal Administration, where she had worked for many years as an energy engineer. Salikova has the right to file a cassation appeal.

Despite the clarifications of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the appeals of Russian and foreign human rights organizations, Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia are becoming victims of repression due to the unlawful application of anti-extremist legislation.

Case of Salikova in Snezhinsk

Case History
Lyudmila Salikova, the leading engineer of the Snezhinsk Municipal Administration, had to resign due to criminal prosecution for her faith in Jehovah God. In November 2020, security forces came to her for a search, but the case was not immediately initiated. In August 2021, the investigator of the Investigative Committee, Aleksandr Chepenko, charged the believer with organizing the activities of an extremist organization and had her sign a recognizance agreement. The accusation was based on the testimony of a woman recruited by the FSB to make audio and video recordings of conversations with Salikova. In the fall of 2021, the case went to court. The prosecutor requested that the court sentence the believer to six and a half years in a penal colony. In January 2022, the court gave Lyudmila Salikova a six-year suspended sentence for professing her faith. The appellate court upheld this decision, but in January 2023, the cassation court returned the case to the appellate stage, which this time reduced the suspended sentence imposed on the believer to two and a half years.
Timeline

Persons in case

Salikova
Lyudmila

Criminal case

Region:
Chelyabinsk Region
Locality:
Snezhinsk
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, she "organized the activities of a religious organization ... imported and imported into the Russian Federation for subsequent illegal mass distribution of religious information materials included in the federal list of extremist materials".
Court case number:
12002750030000019
Initiated:
November 9, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-2/2022 (1-176/2021)
Judge:
Timofey Smoluk
Court:
Snezhinsk City Court of the Chelyabinsk Region
Court of Appeal:
Chelyabinsk Regional Court
Case History
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