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Unjust Verdicts

Appeal in Tatarstan Upholds the Verdict of Three Jehovah's Witnesses

November 3, 2023 Tatarstan

On November 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan upheld the sentence of the first instance—2 years suspended for Tatyana Obizhestvit, 2.5 years suspended for Leysan Bochkareva and 3 years and 1 month in prison for Andrey Bochkarev, who has already served this term in full while in jail.

The prosecutor considered the decision of the court of first instance too lenient and in March 2023 filed an appeal in which he asked the court to "strengthen" the punishment for the believers, as well as to exclude mitigating circumstances from the verdict.

In Tatarstan, 13 Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted for their faith. One of them, Konstantin Sannikov , is serving his sentence in a penal colony. In June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights found prosecutions on such grounds unlawful.

The case of the Bochkarevs and Obizhestvit in Kazan

Case History

In January 2020, Tatyana Obizhestvit hosted guests at her home. Suddenly, the security forces rushed in. After a search of her home, 15 people were taken away for interrogation. Among them were two women over 80 years old and two children. A criminal case was opened against Tatyana, as well as Andrey and Leysan Bochkarevs under an extremist article only because they believe in Jehovah God. The believers spent 2 days in the temporary detention facility, after which the women were placed under house arrest, and the man was placed in a pre-trial detention center. In April 2021, the case went to court. Two secret witnesses were present in the materials: one posing as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the other claiming that he had been “offered to join an organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” In February 2023, Tatyana Obizhestvit and Leysan Bochkareva received suspended sentences of 2 and 2.5 years, respectively. Andrey Bochkarev was sentenced to 3 years and 1 month of actual imprisonment, but was released in the courtroom, since he actually served this term in a pre-trial detention center. The appeal upheld this decision.

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