Berchuk Aleksey

Name: Berchuk Aleksey Aleksandrovich
Date of Birth: November 17, 1975
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 64 day in a pre-trial detention, 1895 day in prison
Sentence: Punishment in the form of 8 years of imprisonment to be served in a general regime correctional colony, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for a term of 5 years 6 months, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year 6 months
Term of imprisonment: until May 2029
Currently held in: Correctional Colony No. 3 of the Republic of Mari El

Berchuk Aleksey Aleksandrovich, born 1975, Correctional Colony No. 3 of the Republic of Mari El, ul. Medvedevo, 1, poselok Medvedevo, Republic of Mari El, 425200

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail.

Parcels and parcels should not be sent because of the limit on their number per year.

Note: discussing topics related to criminal prosecution is not allowed in letters; languages other than Russian will not pass.

Biography

On January 21, 2019, Aleksey Berchuk was detained at one of the Moscow airports. He was charged with organizing extremist activity, after which he was forced to return to Blagoveshchensk together with an FSB investigator.

Aleksey was born in 1975 in the city of Kartaly (Chelyabinsk Region), later lived in Saransk, Blagoveshchensk and other cities. He is the only son in the family. Aleksey loved sports since childhood, especially ice hockey. He also liked wrestling and boxing. However, in the 1990s, after reading the Bible on his own several times, he changed to more peaceful hobbies. He loves playing football with friends. In 2008, Aleksey got married. He worked in construction and decorating.

The criminal case against the believer was considered in court for more than 1 year. On June 30, 2021, judge Tatyana Studilko set a new record for the cruelty of a sentence against peaceful believers. She sentenced Aleksey to 8 years in a penal colony for singing and praying to Jehovah God.

Case History

In summer 2018 the FSB initiated a criminal case against Aleksey Berchuk and Dmitry Golik. This was preceded by covert video surveillance of the Golik family and recording of meetings for worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Blagoveshchensk. Searches as part of the case affected seven families of believers. Berchuk learned about the investigation against him only in January 2019, when he was detained at a Moscow airport and taken to Blagoveshchensk. The court of first instance announced the verdict in June 2021: Golik — 7 years in a penal colony, and Berchuk — 8 years (a record cruel punishment at that time). Three months later, the court of appeal reduced Golik’s term of imprisonment by 10 months. In March of the following year, the court imposed more lenient conditions of serving his sentence on Dmitriy Golik and transferred him to a different colony, from where he was released on parole in April 2025.
Timeline
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