Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Sergeyev Sergey Aleksandrovich
Date of Birth: September 6, 1955
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 191 day in a pre-trial detention, 147 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: Suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years of imprisonment with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year 9 months, punishment in the form of imprisonment shall be considered conditional with a probationary period of 5 years

Biography

On March 17, 2019, mass interrogations and detentions of citizens for their faith took place in the village of Luchegorsk (Primorye Territory). Two days later, the court ruled to send two local believers to the pre-trial detention center. One of them is Sergey Sergeev. What do we know about him?

Sergey was born in 1955 in the village of Dukhovnitskoye, Saratov Region. Together with his sister and parents he lived in a private house in the countryside, so from childhood he was used to working on the farm. Later he mastered the profession of a milling machine operator and machinist of mining and quarry excavators and until his retirement he worked in a coal mine on excavators of various types. After retirement, he continued to work as a watchman.

In addition to his native village, in different years Sergey lived in Saratov and Vladivostok, and later moved to Luchegorsk, which attracted him by the lack of city bustle. His wife's relatives also live in Luchegorsk.

In 1991, Sergey married Nelly. The couple raised two daughters and a son. Both spouses are united by a love of dogs.

Soon after the wedding, Sergey and Nelly began to study the Holy Scriptures. The validity of the Bible's teachings and the accuracy of the prophecies convinced both that they had found the truth.

Sergey's relatives are perplexed by the fact that citizens of the country are imprisoned for their faith. They do not understand how to practice their faith with impunity for more than 20 years and suddenly become a "criminal" overnight.

Case History

In March 2019, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case for their faith against Yuriy Belosludtsev and Sergey Sergeyev from the village of Luchegorsk. They were accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and involving others in it. The investigation considered that the men were in a “criminal conspiracy” to “study and discuss religious material on topics about Jehovah.” Later, operatives searched their homes. The believers spent more than six months in a pre-trial detention center, and then another 5 months under house arrest. In June 2020, court hearings began, and a year and a half later, Belosludtsev and Sergeyev were sentenced to 6 years probation. The prosecutor asked for a sentence of 5.5 and 5 years in prison, respectively. The Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation upheld the conviction.