In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Aleksandr Polozov and Stepan Shevelev Received 6 Years of Suspended Sentence for Peaceful Beliefs

On December 29, 2023, Norilsk City Court Judge Sergey Kurunin sentenced two local Jehovah's Witnesses, Aleksandr Polozov and Stepan Shevelev, to 6 years of suspended sentence. According to the prosecution, they entered into a "criminal conspiracy" to study the Bible.

The criminal prosecution of the men began back in October 2019, when special police surrounded the camp site, where believers were resting with friends. A criminal case was initiated against Aleksandr Polozov under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization), and in May 2021, Stepan Shevelev became his second defendant.

Alexander Polozov spent three months in a pre-trial detention center, and in March 2020 he was included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring. Aleksandr is very grateful to his fellow believers for financial assistance after blocking bank cards. He was also encouraged by numerous letters: "Someone wrote where he had been and what he had seen ... Stories of interesting places seemed to push the walls of the prison apart, and I "traveled". Stepan Shevelev said: "Our friends understand that sometimes we need emotional support, and they do everything to encourage us."

In June 2021, the case went to court. In 2022, it was returned to the prosecutor for lack of corpus delicti. A new trial of the criminal case began in July 2023. Again, the prosecutor was unable to provide evidence of the defendants' guilt. Polozov was also credited with words that he did not pronounce. Despite this, the prosecutor requested 6 years in prison for believers.

In his last speech, Polozov noted: "I am a rescuer of the 5th category. More than once I risked my life to save the lives of other people and was noted for it ... My profession does not give me the right to choose whether or not to save a person, only guided by the criteria, whether he is a believer or not, whether he is my friend or my enemy. All lives are valuable in the eyes of God, and therefore in mine too. Against this background, any accusation of extremism against me looks absurd."

Shevelev said: "I have had the opportunity to communicate with many believers, including Muslims and Orthodox priests. But I did not consider any of them to be beneath me. The fact that we have different religious views does not give me the right to judge them. Otherwise, it would be contrary to my views."

The believers have the right to appeal the verdict in the appellate instance.

In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, five of Jehovah's Witnesses have already been sentenced to prison terms, and in total, more than 30 Jehovah's Witnesses have been subjected to religious persecution in this region.