Tibiy Valeriy

Name: Tibiy Valeriy Viktorovich
Date of Birth: February 4, 1977
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, 398 day in a pre-trial detention
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public and religious organizations for 2 years, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year, punishment in the form of imprisonment shall be considered conditional with a probationary period of 5 years

Biography

In December 2021, during a raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog, the security forces aggressively broke into Valeriy Tibiy and his family. A peaceful believer, who had recently undergone heart surgery, was thrown to the floor. As he fell, he hit his head. Four months later, Valeriy found his name on the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, and in May 2022 he was detained and sent to jail.

Valeriy was born in 1977 in the village of Novopokrovka (Crimea). He has an elder sister and a twin brother. Their father is no longer alive, their mother is retired. During his school years, Valeriy liked to collect stamps and badges, play checkers, read books, and also go hiking with his class.

Valeriy graduated with honors from the college, where he mastered the profession of parquet flooring—a specialist in the artistic laying of flooring. After the army, Valeriy worked in the Crimean anti-hail service (service for protection from bad weather), and later as a driver and watchman on a farm.

Valeriy was a believer and prayed to God in difficult moments of his life. He even memorized the 90th Psalm. In 2003, Valeriy learned that God has a name. He began to study the Bible and a year later he decided to become a Christian and devote his life to the service of God. Valeriy says: “For me, the most important thing is to love, endure and forgive.”

In 2012, Valeriy met Kristina, and in the same year, 5 months later, they got married. The wife shares the religious views of Valeriy and supports him in everything. Kristina is a hairdresser. In her free time, she enjoys sewing, crocheting, and gifting her products to loved ones. Spouses like to receive guests and spend time with friends.

After the operation, Valeriy began to apply for disability, but did not have time to do this due to criminal prosecution. Due to his health condition, he needs daily medication. Valeriy's family and friends are concerned that this peaceful man ended up behind bars only because of talking about the Bible and believing in Jehovah God.

Case History

Aleksandr Skvortsov is one of those convicted in the high-profile “Case of 16”. Shortly after the believer had served his sentence in full, the security forces searched his house. Six months later, in December 2021, searches were carried out at the homes of 30 residents of Taganrog. Aleksandr was taken for interrogation and detained. In March 2022, Valeriy Tibiy also became a defendant in the criminal case. He was sent to jail despite being seriously ill. The third defendant in the case, Vladimir Moiseyenko, ended up in pre-trial detention in July of the same year. Investigators accused all three of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. The case went to court in November 2022. During the hearings, it turned out that the FSB had been monitoring them since 2016, and an undercover agent recorded his conversations about the Bible with the believers. In June 2023, Skvortsov and Moiseyenko were sentenced to 7 and 6 years in a penal colony, respectively, and Tibiy was given a 6-year suspended sentence. The court of appeal, and later the court of cassation, upheld this decision.
Timeline
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