From left to right: Valentina Ermilova, Maria Myasnikova, Ekaterina Olshevskaya and Kristina Golik on the day of the appeal

From left to right: Valentina Ermilova, Maria Myasnikova, Ekaterina Olshevskaya and Kristina Golik on the day of the appeal

From left to right: Valentina Ermilova, Maria Myasnikova, Ekaterina Olshevskaya and Kristina Golik on the day of the appeal

Unjust Verdicts

In Blagoveshchensk, Sentence of Four Women — Jehovah's Witnesses Came into Force. Appeal Did not Satisfy Their Complaints

Amur Region

On March 10, 2025, the Amur Regional Court upheld the sentence against Yekaterina Olshevskaya, Mariya Myasnikova, Kristina Golik and Valentina Yermilova: forced labor for up to 2 years and 6 months.

The court of first instance issued the verdict in December 2024. The believers pleaded not guilty, appealed and asked to be acquitted. In their complaints, they drew attention to the groundlessness of the accusation and the absence of any socially dangerous consequences of their actions. The same was confirmed by witnesses questioned in the court of first instance. They said that believers gathered for communication, read the Bible, but there were never any calls to undermine the state system, hatred or violence. The prosecutor insisted on the legality of the sentence and asked to leave it unchanged.

Dawid Bunikowski, visiting scholar at University of Eastern Finland's School of Theology, academic associate at Cardiff School of Law and Politics' Centre for Law and Religion, said: "This is ridiculous that people are punished for worshipping in private."

The Case of Golik and Others in Blagoveshchensk

Case History
In July 2021, Kristina Golik, Valentina Yermilova, Ekaterina Olshevskaya and Mariya Portnyagina (married name Myasnikova) became defendants in a criminal case for their faith in Jehovah God. Peaceful women from Blagoveshchensk were charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization. A month earlier, Kristina Golik's husband, Dmitry, had been sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony for talking about God. The husbands of two others, Anton Olshevskiy and Sergey Yermilov, were under investigation at the time. The case against the women was initiated by Obukhov, investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB for the Amur Region. He claimed that they committed illegal acts, "wishing for the occurrence of socially dangerous consequences," that is what he called the participation of the believers in discussions of Bible topics. All four were placed under recognizance agreements. In May 2023, the case went to court. In December 2024, the court sentenced the women to forced labor for terms ranging from 2 years and 2 months to 2.5 years. The appeal upheld this decision.
Timeline

Persons in case

Golik
Kristina
Olshevskaya
Yekaterina
Myasnikova
Mariya
Yermilova
Valentina

Criminal case

Region:
Amur Region
Locality:
Blagoveshchensk
Suspected of:
"committed intentional actions related to the continuation of the activities of the CRO and LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in Blagoveshchensk, namely, they were directly involved in religious events held by these prohibited organizations" (from the decision to initiate criminal proceedings)
Court case number:
12107100001000033
Initiated:
July 22, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
FSB Directorate of Russia for the Amur Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-77/2024 (1-1190/2023)
Court of First Instance:
Blagoveshchensk City Court of the Amur Region
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Stanislav Stanishevskiy
Case History
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