Dmitriy Barmakin and his wife Yelena. November 2021

Dmitriy Barmakin and his wife Yelena. November 2021

Dmitriy Barmakin and his wife Yelena. November 2021

Unjust Verdicts

A Court in the City of Vladivostok Sentenced Dmitriy Barmakin to Eight Years in a Penal Colony—His Acquittal Had Been Overturned

Primorye Territory

The retrial of Dmitry Barmakin's case in the Pervorechensky District Court of Vladivostok resulted in a guilty verdict and an eight-year prison term—a decision rendered by Judge Larisa Smolenkova on April 27, 2023. A year and a half prior, her colleague from the same court ruled that the believer be acquitted with the right to rehabilitation.

Barmakin became the first one of Jehovah's Witnesses since 2017 to be acquitted of the charges under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In November 2021, the court concluded that “Barmakin never carried out extremist activities; he practiced the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which included meeting with fellow believers and discussing his beliefs." This decision was a logical consequence of the ruling of the Supreme Court Plenum of the Russian Federation, issued a month earlier. However, six months later, the appellate court overturned the acquittal and returned the case to the first instance for consideration by a new composition of the court. This time the trial was held behind closed doors. The prosecutor again requested that the believer serve nine years in a penal colony.

After the verdict, Barmakin, age 48, was taken into custody in the courtroom. As an additional punishment, the judge decided to restrict the believer's freedom for one year after serving the prison sentence.

Friends support Dmitriy Barmakin, who was arrested in the courtroom, with applause. April 27, 2023
Friends support Dmitriy Barmakin, who was arrested in the courtroom, with applause. April 27, 2023

Dmitriy Barmakin has been defending his innocence for almost five years. “The prosecution made typical actions of believers look like some kind of spy games,” he said in his final statement. “So, according to the prosecution, a typical peaceful religious meeting and a discussion with friends on Bible topics constitutes continuation of the activities of a banned organization. Simple phrases like 'turn down the volume on your mobile device' indicate a conspiracy. Discussions in an apartment indicate a desire to hide from law enforcement agencies.”

Dmitriy's wife, Yelena, is also being prosecuted under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for her beliefs. The same court—the Pervorechensky Court of the city of Vladivostok—is currently considering a case against her and several local believers.

Barmakin is the fifth believer in Russia to receive such a severe sentence for his convictions. Aleksey Berchuk from Blagoveshchensk and Rustam Diarov, Yevgeniy Ivanov, and Sergey Klikunov from Astrakhan had been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Aleksandr Verkhovskiy, director of the information and analytical center Sova, drew attention to the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, saying: “The growing campaign against Jehovah's Witnesses is terrifying, but it also gives a chance that this time someone will finally come to their senses and think. Still, the ‘Witnesses’ too obviously do not pose a threat to security, and at the same time they are just as clearly impossible to ‘eradicate,’ since more than hundred thousand people cannot be imprisoned or forced out of the country, and Jehovah’s Witnesses did not deviate from their faith even in the worst times."

The Case of Barmakin in Vladivostok

Case History
Dmitriy Barmakin moved to Vladivostok from Crimea to take care of his sick mother-in-law and her elderly mother. In July 2018, law enforcement officers in masks and with weapons broke into their house to search it. Dmitriy was arrested, and he spent 1.5 years in a pretrial detention center. The judge returned the criminal case to the prosecutor due to the ambiguity of the charges, stating in the ruling that freedom of religion is the constitutional right of Barmakin as any citizen of the Russian Federation. In April 2021, the case went to court again, and 7 months later, judge Stanislav Salnikov fully acquitted the believer. In April 2022, the regional court overturned this verdict and sent the case for a new trial. Barmakin was sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony. In August 2023, a court of appeal overturned this verdict also, released him and sent the case for a third trial to the court of first instance. This decision was appealed by the prosecutor, and the court of cassation sent the case to the court of appeal comprising a different panel of judges, which in February 2024 upheld the verdict — 8 years in a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Primorye Territory
Locality:
Vladivostok
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, together with others, he conducted worship services, which is interpreted as "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses)
Court case number:
11802050005000051
Initiated:
July 27, 2018
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate for the Pervorechensky District of Vladivostok of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-43/2023 (1-391/2022; 1-305/2021; 1-21/2020; 1-388/2019)
Court of First Instance:
Первореченский районный суд г. Владивостока
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Лариса Смоленкова
Case History
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