Sakhalin Court Sends Believer, 34, to Penal Colony. This Is Third Sentence for Practicing Religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Region

The Poronaisk City Court sentenced Daler Tokhtaev to six years in prison. Judge Yulia Sheveleva considered the conversations about the Bible to be participation in the activities of an extremist organization and involvement in it. The decision was announced on February 28, 2025.

A year earlier, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Tokhtaev. Two months later, the man was detained and taken to a pre-trial detention center in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 300 km from home. He was forbidden to see his wife or even communicate with her on the phone. Daler was held in custody until the verdict was passed, despite health problems: at the time of his imprisonment in the pre-trial detention center, he was in the process of recovering from surgery.

The case went to court in October 2024. The accusation was based on covert video recordings of Dahler's conversations with Sergey Rozenblit, who portrayed an interest in the Bible. During his interrogation, it turned out that the man turned to Tokhtaev for answers to his life questions, their communication was friendly. Recordings shown in court showed men discussing the Bible, as well as work and family issues. "This is not prohibited by law in Russia... The fact that I am now in the dock is a big mistake," Tokhtayev said.

In the Sakhalin Region, 10 people faced criminal prosecution for their faith. Six of them have already been given suspended sentences by the courts.