Photo: Yuriy Savelyev in the courtroom. July 2020

Photo: Yuriy Savelyev in the courtroom. July 2020

Photo: Yuriy Savelyev in the courtroom. July 2020

Unjust Verdicts

A Novosibirsk appeal upheld 67-year-old Yuriy Savelyev's verdict: six years in prison for practicing his faith

Novosibirsk Region

On April 5, 2021, the Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the verdict of the Leninsky District Court of Novosibirsk against the 67-year-old pensioner Yuriy Savelyev. He had been sentenced to 6 years in a general regime colony.

The verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.

The prosecution requested 8 years in prison for the elderly believer, but on December 16, 2020, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Novosibirsk, Yekaterina Kashina, reduced his term by two years.

Yuriy Savelyev has been behind bars for more than two years. He ended up in a pre-trial detention center immediately after a raid in Novosibirsk in November 2018, and his detention was continually extended. All the while, he tries to maintain a positive attitude and counts every letter he receives from his friends and fellow believers. As of March 9, 2021, he received a total of about 14,000 letters from 82 countries around the world.

The charge against Yuriy Savelyev was based on the conclusion of Oleg Zayev, a teacher of "sectology" from an Orthodox theological institute. At the trial, he made no secret of his personal animosity towards Jehovah's Witnesses because of their religion. The case also features a secret prosecution witness under the pseudonym "Ivanova", who did not appear at any court hearing. Judge Kashina allowed her affidavit to be read out in violation of the believer's right to a fair trial.

On March 10, 2021, the Eighth General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation in Kemerovo declared Savelyev's imprisonment in a pre-trial detention center unlawful during the trial, which lasted 413 days.

In the Novosibirsk region, 3 more criminal cases against 6 believers are currently at different stages of proceedings.

The beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses are not prohibited by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The right to freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Russian Constitution. In February 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry said: "In the consideration of the case [in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation], neither the legitimacy of the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor the ways of expressing them, were assessed." Despite this, Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia continue to be sentenced to prison terms only because of their faith.

Case of Savelyev in Novosibirsk

Case History
Six years in a penal colony—this was the harsh sentence that 66-year-old Yuri Savelyev from the city of Novosibirsk received for his faith. The man was arrested in November 2018 during searches in the homes of believers. He was in pre-trial detention until his sentencing in December 2020. The appellate court, and later the cassation court, upheld the verdict. In May 2021, Yuriy Savelyev was transferred to Penal Colony No. 5 in the city of Rubtsovsk, Altai Territory. In the colony, the administration, with no legitimate basis, tried to force the believer into treatment for alcoholism. On far-fetched grounds, the elderly man spent about nine months in harsh conditions of detention. Yuriy was released in July 2023.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Novosibirsk Region
Locality:
Novosibirsk
Suspected of:
according to the investigation he unlawfully organised the activity of the religious organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city of Novosibirsk (with reference to the decision of the Russian Supreme Court on the liquidation of all 396 registered organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11802500019000098
Initiated:
November 7, 2018
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Novosibirsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-42/2020
Court:
Ленинский районный суд Новосибирска
Case History
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