Updated: April 15, 2024
Name: Zhuk Tatyana Valentinovna
Date of Birth: March 13, 1973
Current status: Defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: Recognizance agreement

Biography

On November 10, 2018, in Khabarovsk, 30 riot policemen broke into a café where a friendly party was taking place. After breaking down the doors, they staged hours of mass interrogation of those present, including minors, with the seizure of personal property and fingerprinting. Criminal cases were opened against several party participants in connection with their religion. Among them were the spouses Vitaly and Tatyana Zhuk. What do we know about Tatiana?

Tatyana was born in 1973 in Khabarovsk. She has an elder brother. As a child, she played basketball and music - she played the accordion and balalaika. After graduating from high school and pedagogical college, she worked as a kindergarten teacher. Later she mastered the profession of a housekeeper.

At the age of 19, Tatiana became keenly interested in the Bible. Her mother was initially concerned about this, but when she saw that Bible education had a beneficial effect on her daughter, she softened the attitude towards her choice. "This is what helped me fill the void," says Tatiana. "The Bible helped me find answers to all my questions."

Tatyana has lived all her life in her native Khabarovsk. Here she also met her future husband Vitaly, a gas electric welder by profession. The couple raised daughters Dina and Polina. Both of them work in the catering industry, and Polina graduated with honors from the College of Technology. The whole family loves to spend time in nature. Tatiana still can't imagine herself without music and masters the guitar on her own.

Relatives and friends of the Zhuk spouses cannot understand why they are being persecuted, and consider what is happening to be complete absurdity.

Case History

Khabarovsk civilians Nikolay Polevodov, Stanislav Kim, spouses Vitaliy and Tatyana Zhuk, Svetlana Sedova and Maya Karpushkina were under investigation after a riot police platoon broke into a friendly party in a café in November 2018. Three men were sent to a pre-trial detention center, and later under house arrest. As a result, the Investigative Committee charged six Jehovah’s Witnesses: men with organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and women with participating in it. The only reason is to believe in Jehovah God and discuss the Bible with friends. 14 months of trials and 20 sessions of the court of first instance revealed the groundlessness of the accusation, and the case was returned to the prosecutor’s office. In December 2021, it went to court again.