In Chuvashia, the Appeal Approved the Verdict for Yuriy Yuskov. The Believer Will Turn 90 After Serving the Sentence

Yuriy Yuskov is the oldest Jehovah's Witness convicted in Russia. On Monday, May 13, the Supreme Court of the Chuvash Republic approved the five-year suspended sentence assigned to him, but with a slight change - the ban on leaving the house at night was removed from additional restrictions.

"I studied the Bible, met people who were also interested, and told them about my hope," said the believer, 86, addressing the appeals panel with his last plea. "This is what I did until April 2017 [before the liquidation of Jehovah's Witnesses' legal entities]. I continued to do the same thing later. What has changed? What is my crime?" Yuskov believes that the court baselessly equated his peaceful religious activities with participation in extremist activities and involvement in them (parts 1.1 and 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Despite appeals by human rights organizations and ECHR rulings, criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, including the elderly, continues in Russia. When published, 13 believers aged 80 and over were prosecuted for their faith.