A Court in Chelyabinsk Sentenced 73-year-old Valentina Suvorova, a Labor Veteran, to a Suspended 1 Year for Reading the Bible

CLARIFICATION. On March 11, 2021, the Metallurgicheskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk labeled Valentina Suvorova's, a retiree, activities as extremist because she “sang songs” and “prayed to Jehovah God.” The believer was given a two-year suspended sentence with additional restrictions on certain activities for a period of six months and a one-year probationary period (initially it was reported that the believer was given a one-year suspended sentence).

Addressing the court with her last word the day before the verdict, Valentina Suvorova noted: “The cases of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, which are currently being conducted in Russia, are taking place before the eyes of the whole world. And in this case, the reputation of our country suffers greatly, turning it, in fact, into a totalitarian state. " She continues: “The criminal case against me has no legal basis and does not obey logic and common sense. I am an extremist without extremism. It doesn't work that way. Today they put the stigma of an extremist on me, accuse me of a grave crime, trampling my good name in the mud. "

The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.

Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor recommended to the court that the believer be sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment in a colony.

Valentina Suvorova worked as a teacher at school in Chelyabinsk for 30 years. She bears the honorary title of "Labor Veteran". With her husband, Vladimir, she has been married for half a century. Several years ago, this friendly family suffered a series of tragedies: their beloved and only son Igor died of blood cancer, Valentina's mother died 2 years later, then her sister died, and her younger sister was paralyzed after a stroke. Before the Suvorovs family had time to recover from these shocks, investigators came to their house with a search. This happened on March 26, 2019, about a week after a criminal case was initiated on participation in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

The investigation was initiated by the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Chelyabinsk Region. For about a year, investigator Chepenko collected evidence that the believer "deliberately talked about faith with the residents of the city of Chelyabinsk, sang chants, prayed to Jehovah God, and studied religious literature."

The prosecution took advantage of the testimony of an embedded agent Lilia Ruzayeva, who often spoke with Valentina on biblical topics. “We loved her as a daughter,” the believer said in her last word. - We met with joy, with treats. […] She spoke warm words of consolation, seeing how much grief and misfortune I endured that I live on pills alone. How can you drink tea, hug a person, receive flowers from him and betray him at the same time? Only now I fully understand what pain Jesus Christ experienced when he was betrayed by his own disciple Judas Iscariot. "

Since December 5, 2019, the believer has been under recognizance not to leave. On February 7, 2020, the case was sent to court.

In the same Metallurgicheskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk, a case is being heard against Valentina's spouse, 75-year-old Vladimir Suvorov. Another believer, 57-year-old Dmitry Vinogradov, is defending his beliefs in the Central District Court of Chelyabinsk.

Human rights defenders of the international society "Memorial" drew attention to the incompatibility of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses with common sense: “It is absurd when Jehovah's Witnesses convicted under Soviet rule are recognized as victims of political repression in accordance with the Federal Law on Rehabilitation (1991) - and at the same time are sent to the prisons of the current followers of Jehovah's Witnesses. "

Russian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Back in 2019, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation presented a report to the President, where she drew attention to the unjustified criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. In January 2021, at a meeting with the Human Rights Council, President Putin re-ordered the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to deal with violations of the legislation on freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and religious associations.

The conflict between law and law enforcement practice in Russia, according to the European Court of Human Rights, occurs due to a number of myths around Jehovah's Witnesses. The ECHR gave this a legal interpretation.