Yevgeniy Bitusov and Leonid Druzhinin with their wives on the day of the verdict, December 2022

Yevgeniy Bitusov and Leonid Druzhinin with their wives on the day of the verdict, December 2022

Yevgeniy Bitusov and Leonid Druzhinin with their wives on the day of the verdict, December 2022

Unjust Verdicts

The Court of Appeal Upheld the Harsh Sentence for Two Jehovah's Witnesses From Zeya. They Will Spend From 6 to 6.5 Years in the Penal Colony

Amur Region

On March 31, 2023, a panel of judges of the Amur Regional Court, chaired by Natalya Trofimova, approved the conviction of Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov — 6.5 and 6 years in prison, respectively. The verdict has entered into force, but the believers strongly disagree with it and can appeal against it in the cassation procedure.

The two Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced in December 2022 - the believers were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization while conducting peaceful worship. Yevgeniy Bitusov, in his appeal against the verdict, wrote: “The state and all officials are obliged to maintain neutrality and impartiality [in matters of religion]. Therefore, they do not have the right to determine what can be believed and what not.”

Before the appeal decision, Leonid Druzhinin said: “Jehovah's Witnesses are known in 240 countries and territories. But nowhere are they tried for extremism or for some radical views.” And Yevgeniy Bitusov drew the attention of the court to the controversial situation with the rights of believers in Russia: “Millions of people in our country go to churches, mosques, practice their religion ... and talk about religious topics with each other. But I am not allowed to do that because I'm one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Why? Is my religion worse than others?”

Both believers said that they receive great help from fellow believers. “It is very encouraging when brothers and sisters come to court and even come from other localities”, Yevgeniy shared his feelings.

Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov are just two of more than 700 Russian Jehovah's Witnesses facing criminal prosecution solely for their religion.

The Case of Druzhinin and Bitusov in Zeya

Case History
In the summer of 2020, the FSB opened a criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses in Zeya, including Yevgeniy Bitusov and Leonid Druzhinin, who were witnesses in the case of their co-religionist Konstantin Moiseyenko. A year later, they were charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The homes of believers were searched twice, in March 2019 and October 2020. Both men have families, and Yevgeniy Bitusov is the father of a minor child. In October 2021, the investigator reclassified the charge as organizing the activities of an extremist organization. In May 2022, the criminal case was sent to court. In December 2022, the court sentenced Bitusov and Druzhinin to 6 and 6.5 years in prison, respectively. The court of appeal and the court of cassation upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Amur Region
Locality:
Zeya
Suspected of:
"by finding places for religious events, providing these places with computer equipment ... knowingly organized weekly religious events" (from the decision to prosecute)
Court case number:
12007100001000038
Initiated:
August 10, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Branch of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Amur Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-96/2022
Court of First Instance:
Зейский районный суд Амурской области
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Ольга Колесова
Case History
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