"Educated, Tactful Person Who Does Not Inspire Distrust". In Cheboksary, One of Jehovah's Witnesses is Sentenced to Six and a Half Years in Colony

On September 22, 2026, the Novocheboksarsk City Court sentenced Albert Pilshchikov, 46, to six and a half years in a penal colony. He was found guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization for practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Immediately after the verdict was announced, Pilshchikov was taken into custody.

"What is wrong with the fact that I became a believer, gave up bad habits, became attentive, kind... loving?" Albert asked in his final statement. "Which of these things did the prosecution see as 'extremism'? Honestly, I do not understand."

Part of the trial, presided over by Judge Yekaterina Ogoreltseva, was held behind closed doors at the prosecutor's request. Still, Albert's friends came to support him — on various days, between 50 and 60 people gathered outside the courthouse. Pilshchikov's mother, despite having a disability, attended every hearing.

The key witness for the prosecution was the secret witness "Nikolaev." The defense twice filed motions to disclose his identity, but the court refused. "The prosecution actively relied on audio and video recordings made by Nikolaev," Albert commented in court. "But at the hearing, the witness stated that he did not make any recordings. So where did they come from?" Another prosecution witness, Center for Counteracting Extremism officer Afanasyev, gave the following characterization: "Pilshchikov is an educated, tactful person, fairly calm, does not inspire a feeling of distrust."

The evidence included a video that investigators claimed documented a meeting for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses in French. However, in court it was found to be a medical webinar on osteopathy.

The search of Albert's home took place back in the fall of 2020. A criminal case was initiated against him more than five years later, in March 2026. At that time, he was also detained. "Law enforcement officers knocked me to the ground, put handcuffs on me, dragged me into a minibus, and threatened me with the use of physical force," Albert recounted. After several days in the pretrial detention center, he was placed under house arrest, which lasted until the verdict.

Pilshchikov became the tenth of Jehovah's Witnesses to have a criminal case initiated against him in Chuvashia. Most defendants in this region are elderly.