The First Convictions in Kemerovo Region Have Been Handed Down to Two of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Both Were Sentenced to an Imprisonment for Four Years

On September 2, 2020, the 14-month court proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk in the town of Beryozovsky came to a conclusion. The court convicted them and sentenced them to imprisonment in the penal colony with some additional restrictions. They had already spent 520 days in pre-trial detention and 250 days under house arrest.

Both of the Witnesses are family men. At the time of the arrest of 48-year-old Vadim Levchuk, his son was still a minor. Sergey Britvin is 55 and registered as Category 2 disabled. In the past, before their criminal investigation, they both worked in mining enterprises. Levchuk worked in a mine, and Britvin worked as a driver of a heavy transport vehicle. Their lives changed completely in July 2018, when a wave of home searches of Jehovah’s Witnesses was carried out in their town. During the raids, one woman was injured by broken glass. Two days later the Tsentralniy District Court of Kemerovo ruled to place Britvin and Levchuk in pre-trial detention. They spent time in SIZO-1 in Kemerovo and SIZO-4 in Anzhero-Sudzhensk.

The investigation was conducted by the Investigative Department of the Kemerovo Regional Headquarters of the FSB. They were unable to find a single victim or anyone who had suffered harm as a result of the activity of the accused. The investigators consider that they organized the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(1) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code) merely for discussing spiritual subjects with their friends. At the core of the criminal case lies evidence given by a “secret witness” whose name has not been revealed by the prosecution. As a result of this, the Witnesses have been unable to exercise their right to defend themselves against the charges (impossibility to ask a witness more specific questions, impossibility to see his reaction and make sure that he answers not according to others' instructions). The state prosecutor recommended that the court sentence both men to 6.5 years in prison. They refused to plead guilty and insist that just practicing their religion is not forbidden by the law.

After they spend 4 years in the colony, they will be forbidden to hold certain positions for another 3 years, and they will also be subject to 1 year of restrictions.

Of the 18 months they spent in pre-trial detention, the last 6 months were unlawful. This fact was belatedly admitted by the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in December 2019, two months after the newly-formed cassation court system began to operate in Russia.

From the court’s decision it is clear that the law-enforcement agencies and the courts of Kemerovo Region remain convinced that citizens of the region cannot profess the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses, despite the fact that Article 28 of the Russian Federation Constitution guarantees this right. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia insist that they have nothing in common with extremism. The Russian government confirmed that the decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban the activity of their organizations “did not give an appraisal of the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and do not contain any restrictions or bans on the individual profession of the teaching indicated above.”

The court's decision has not entered into force. Believers will appeal against it.