This person is also involved in another criminal case as well:
Case of Prianikov and Others in Karpinsk
Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Prianikov Aleksandr Vitaliyevich
Date of Birth: May 18, 1987
Current status: accused
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1), 150 (4)

Biography

In June 2018, Aleksandr Pryanikov was detained by the police while talking about Bible topics. A month later, a criminal case was opened against the peaceful believer, accusing him of participating in the activities of a banned organization. More than a year later, the case went to court. In July 2021, Pryanikov was found guilty and sentenced to 2.5 years of probation. A second criminal case has also been initiated against the believer, which is under consideration by another judge.

Aleksandr was born in 1987 in the village of Udinsk (Khabarovsk Territory). He has two sisters. Mom is retired now, father works on a watch. Back in the early 1990s, Aleksandr's family moved to Norilsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory), and in the summer of 1997 — to the city of Nazarovo, where his parents still live. From childhood, Aleksandr was fond of music: he studied at the music school in the accordion class, participated in competitions, in which he often took first places. For some time he was engaged in weightlifting.

After school, Aleksandr graduated from the Nazarov Power Engineering College with a degree in Power Plants, Networks and Systems. He worked as an electrician at a factory of reinforced concrete structures.

From childhood, Aleksandr sincerely believed in the existence of God and read the Bible. His heart was deeply moved by God's promise that people would never die again. Due to his Christian beliefs, which did not allow taking up arms, he underwent alternative civilian service in a boarding house for the elderly and disabled in Kemerovo.

Aleksandr does not work in his specialty, but is engaged in a small-income business — the manufacture of decorative tiles for sale. In his free time, he tries to keep himself in physical shape and learns to repair computer equipment.

Alexander met his future wife Anastasia in Kemerovo, when he was doing alternative civilian service there. In 2011 they got married. Anastasia is a seamstress by profession. He likes to make various souvenirs, postcards and gifts with his own hands. In May 2020, Anastasia also became a defendant in a criminal case on extremism, the second one, in which her husband appears.

Case History

In February 2020, even before the completion of the hearings in the first case against Aleksandr Pryanikov, Venera and Daria Dulov, the Investigative Committee initiated another one: they were accused of organizing, participating and involving in the activities of an extremist organization. Also involved in the case are Anastasia Pryanikova, Alexandr’s wife, Svetlana Zalyaeva, and her husband Ruslan, who is not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. For the fact that the Zalyaevs, inviting Pryanikov to visit, discussed evangelical values with their children, the three of them were also accused of “involving minors in a criminal group.” The case went to court in April 2021. In August 2023, the judge returned the case to the prosecutor due to irregularities in the indictment. In October, the appeal upheld this decision.