Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov in the court, December 2022
The Court of Cassation Approved the Prison Terms for Believers from Zeya: 6.5 and 6 Years. Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov Will Continue to Serve Their Sentences in the Colony
Amur RegionOn March 19, 2024, the judicial panel of the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok rejected the complaint of Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov and approved the sentence of the first instance: 6.5 and 6 years in prison, respectively.
In their cassation appeals, the believers reminded the court that law enforcement agencies had not established a single fact that they had committed illegal activities. Also, not a single injured person was identified. The defendants' lawyer stressed that "their motive was not extremist, but the intention to exercise the right to profess and spread their faith." Convicts are characterized exclusively on the positive side. Bitusov has a dependent young daughter.
In the Amur Region, 23 of Jehovah's Witnesses faced criminal prosecution on religious grounds. 13 of them are already serving sentences in the colony.