Aleksandr Kutin, Maksim Derendyaev and Sergey Ashikhmin, March 2024

Aleksandr Kutin, Maksim Derendyaev and Sergey Ashikhmin, March 2024

Aleksandr Kutin, Maksim Derendyaev and Sergey Ashikhmin, March 2024

Unjust Verdicts

In Udmurtia, The Verdict Against of Three Jehovah's Witnesses from Izhevsk Has Entered Into Force: Believers Will Be Sent to Penal Colony Following Court of Appeal's Decision

Udmurtia

On October 1, 2024, the Supreme Court of Udmurtia upheld the guilty verdict against Maksim Derendyaev, Aleksandr Kutin and Sergey Ashikhmin. All of them were sentenced to 3 years in a penal colony on charges of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. The hearing was attended by 18 people, including the believers' relatives.

The three men filed appeals against the verdict of the court of first instance while in the detention center; they were taken into custody in the courtroom immediately after the verdict was announced in May 2024. They consider thmeselves not guilty. Sergey Ashikhmin noted in his appeal: "The verdict is unlawful, since I am being prosecuted and punished only for being a Christian – one of Jehovah's Witnesses, practicing my religion in a way that is not prohibited." Andrey Kutin stated: "The verdict does not cite any extremist statement on my part. The court has not established against which specific social group I acted, when, in what way, for what purpose and what consequences this led to." And Maksim Derendyaev noted: "All my actions were completely peaceful. The prosecution did not state that I incited violence or religious hatred and enmity." The believers also stressed that the court of first instance did not prove the existence of a motive of religious hatred or enmity in their actions.

Thus, already the second sentence in Udmurtia entered into force: earlier, the regional supreme court upheld large fines against Mikhail Potapov and Sergey Gobozev from Votkinsk.

The Case of Derendyaev and Others in Izhevsk

Case History
In the spring of 2021, a criminal case was initiated against three believers from Izhevsk for organizing the activity of an extremist organization. The next day, FSB and Investigative Committee officers conducted mass searches in the city and interrogated 14 people. Maksim Derendyaev and Aleksandr Kutin were detained and placed in a pretrial detention center, and Sergey Ashikhmin was banned from certain actions. Kutin was released under house arrest after 15 days, and Derendyaev after 3 months. In February 2022, the case against the three men went to court. It was based, among other things, on the testimony of secret witnesses. In May 2024, the court sentenced the believers to 3 years in a penal colony. In September, the court of appeal upheld the sentence.
Timeline

Persons in case

Ashikhmin
Sergey
Derendyaev
Maksim
Kutin
Aleksandr

Criminal case

Region:
Udmurtia
Locality:
Izhevsk
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, the believers agreed actions and coordinated their efforts to organize the preaching work and spreading the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses in Izhevsk
Court case number:
12102940001001701
Initiated:
April 13, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Udmurt Republic
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-7/2024 (1-18/2023; 1-233/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Pervomayskiy District Court of the City of Izhevsk
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Marina Khokhryakova
Case History
Back to top