Court of Appeal in Khabarovsk Replaced the Term of Imprisonment for Aleksey Ukhov with a Suspended Sentence

On July 18, 2023, the Khabarovsk Regional Court commuted the sentence of Aleksey Ukhov in the case for his faith, replacing the actual imprisonment with a suspended one. Although the believer has been found guilty, he will not have to go to prison. However, the term of the sentence was retained: 6 years and 6 months.

The 43-year-old believer was charged with "studying and quoting texts of the Holy Scriptures". In his appeal against the verdict, he stated: “Without grounds the court considered it a crime that I peacefully practiced the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses together with others… I lead a peaceful life, respect authority and observe the law, because I am a believer… I was convicted only for my faith in God.”

Referring to the position of the RF Supreme Court which did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and did not assess the legitimacy of the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and how they express them, Ukhov noted: “Despite the liquidation of the legal entities, I still have the right to freely practice the religion of my choice, including reading the Bible and discussing it with others, praying to God, singing songs in praise of God and talking to others about my faith.”

The Khabarovsk Territory has the second highest number of Jehovah's Witnesses considered as criminals by the authorities only because of their faith in Jehovah God. To date, 30 people have become victims of religious repression, 12 of whom were given various suspended sentences and fines; 4 have already served their sentences.

In April 2023, the human rights organization, Amnesty International, speaking about the significant expansion of the scope of Russia's application of legislation on countering "extremism" and "terrorism", noted: "Representatives of some peaceful religious denominations, including Jehovah's Witnesses, are more often groundlessly subjected to criminal liability".