Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Komissarov Sergey Vasiliyevich
Date of Birth: October 5, 1966
Current status: Suspect
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)

Biography

On the morning of April 3, 2019, in the city of Porkhov (Pskov region), FSB officers broke into the apartment of peaceful believers. The operation was accompanied by searches, interrogations, confiscation of personal belongings, hacking of Internet resources. Its victims were the spouses Sergey and Svetlana Komissarov, whom the investigation suspects of "spreading the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses in the territory of the city of Porkhov." What do we know about Sergey?

Sergey was born in 1966 in the city of Plunge (Lithuania), and his parents are from the Smolensk region. His father was a military man, his mother was a philologist and teacher. The only son of his parents. As a child, he was fond of rugby and canoeing. Later the family moved to Smolensk. At the age of 15 he became interested in tourism, was a member of a tourist club.

Sergey graduated from a vocational school and a construction college, having mastered the professions of an electrician and foreman. Later, he independently acquired the skills of a carpenter, tiler, painter-plasterer. In his student years, he participated in amateur performances, playing guitar and banjo as part of a jazz band. In his free time, he likes to play volleyball with friends, go out of town with tents, take pictures of nature, travel and read books, discovering something new. He has an adult daughter from his first marriage.

Even at an early age, Sergey was tormented by questions about God: why are there so many religions? Why are they so different? Is there a standard for proper worship of God? After talking about this with a believing grandmother, I firmly decided to find and read the Bible. He was convinced of the truth of the Holy Book by the clarity and comprehensibility of the description of the future. He also admired the love, sincerity and openness of his new Christian friends.

Soon Sergey married Svetlana. In 2014, the couple moved to Porkhov and led a quiet life there until the family was hit by misfortune - criminal prosecution because of their faith.

Sergey worries about his elderly parents and fears that the news of his persecution will worsen their already difficult health condition.

Case History

On April 3, 2019, in the city of Porkhov, FSB officers conducted an “operation of the FSB of the city of Pskov.” They broke into the apartments of local believers, conducting searches and interrogations. When they came to Sergei Komissarov, they threw him to the floor. The believer learned that the FSB of Russia in the Pskov region opened a criminal case against him and Aleksey Khabarov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, accusing the believers of “participating in religious meetings” where they “talked about their faith, read the Bible, discussed issues related to this scripture, and sang religious songs.” On March 16, 2020, Komissarov’s case was separated into separate proceedings. The believer made a written request for help to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova, as well as the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Pskov Region Dmitry Shakhov.