Moscow Court Sentences Five Jehovah's Witnesses to 4 to 6 Years in a Penal Colony

On March 31, 2023, Judge Yevgeniya Babinova of Moscow's Babushkinsky District Court pronounced a cruel verdict: peace-loving, law-abiding Muscovites are sent to a penal colony for a long time only for their faith. The court gave Ivan Chaykovskiy, 67, Vitaliy Komarov, 47, Yuriy Chernyshev, 59, and Sergey Shatalov, 53, 6 years and 3 months in a penal colony, and Vardan Zakaryan, 51, 4 years and 3 months in a penal colony.

All five convicts were taken into custody in the courtroom. They spent the last 2.5 years under house arrest, and during the first six months they were not allowed to communicate with their wives. Three of the five have minor children. Chaykovskiy, Komarov, Chernyshev and Shatalov are convicted under Article 282.2 (1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — organizing the activity of a banned organization. Vardan Zakaryan was found guilty of involving others in such an organization. The believers themselves claim that they were exercising their right to freedom of religion; have nothing to do with extremism or a banned organization. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.

There are no victims, no damage to property and no facts of illegal actions or statements in the case. Nevertheless, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence the believers from 6 to 8 years in a penal colony.

The case was initiated on November 24, 2020, and on the same day searches were conducted at 22 addresses in Moscow. Video footage by the law enforcement officers was broadcast on state TV channels and was presented as the arrest of extremely dangerous criminals. During the search Vardan Zakaryan was hit in the head with a buttstock and was hospitalized on the same day with a bruised head and hypertensive crisis. Armed law enforcement officers were guarding his hospital room; relatives were not allowed to visit nor give him any food. In that state he was subjected to interrogation during the night, three days after the beating. Then he was placed in a temporary detention facility. The five men spent two to four days in the temporary detention facility.

In his appeal to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Vardan Zakaryan's lawyer noted: "The use of violence, damage to property and other cruel and inhuman treatment cannot be justified against these people, who have strong convictions about the unacceptability of violence, do not resist the authorities and do not take up arms". Vardan himself, speaking before the court, said: "My views have nothing to do with extremism and I have not committed any crimes. All my actions were peaceful and determined by my faith in God and love for other people".

The surveillance of the believers was conducted for at least three years. Under the guise of "operative infiltration" provocateurs were sent to them, who recorded religious discussions and tried to provoke them to make negative statements about the police. Thus, in 2018, agent "Makarov" was introduced. From the very first meeting, he recorded conversations with Zakaryan on Bible topics. These records later formed the basis of the criminal case, which went to court in February 2022.

Ivan Chaykovskiy, a retired veteran of labor and a father of four, who became one of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1977 (long before the formation of legal entities), said: "We are all being accused of something we didn't do. And today I am being judged merely for my faith and my right to believe in God... You don't need legal entities to worship God, and there is no need to create or reestablish them." It is noteworthy that in 2010 Ivan Chaykovskiy was one of the applicants in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow v. Russia, which led to the ECHR compelling Russia to fully rehabilitate the community by paying the believers a large financial compensation.

In his final statement, Yuriy Chernyshev expressed bewilderment at the criminal prosecution for his beliefs: "Throughout my life I have had no criminal record, not a single record with the police. I tried to lead a peaceful and quiet life. Is this the life that extremists lead?" He came to the conclusion, "I am not being tried for breaking the law, not for a committed proven crime, but simply because I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Yuriy Chernyshev was given an award by the  Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.

Vitaliy Komarov added: "We're just like everyone else. We do not think we are special because we, just like everyone else, face ordinary problems". Vitaliy has several state awards, including a silver medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", authorized by President V. V. Putin on October 25, 2018.

Sergey Shatalov, hoping for a fair trial, said: "My conscience is clear both before God and before people. Do I want justice in this court hearing? Yes. However, if the esteemed court decides otherwise, I will wait for God's justice".

In its judgment on the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, the European Court held that "the respondent State must take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses" (§ 285).