In the photo: Konstantin Bazhenov with his wife, May 5, 2021
Konstantin Bazhenov, Convicted for His Faith, Released From the Colony, but Detained for Deportation
Saratov Region, Ulyanovsk RegionOn 5 May 2021, 45-year-old Konstantin Bazhenov was released on parole from the penal colony in Dimitrovgrad but was sent to the temporary detention center for foreign citizens, as his Russian citizenship was revoked due to criminal prosecution. The believer will be deported to the territory of Ukraine.
During the period of criminal prosecution, he spent about 15 months in the detention center, 4 months under the ban of certain actions, and 15 months in the colony. The believer's prison term expired on July 5, 2021.
Bazhenov was born in Veliky Novgorod. As a child, he moved to Ukraine with his parents and received citizenship of this country. Later, after starting a family, he settled in Russia. In 2019, Konstantin Bazhenov was sentenced by the Leninsky District Court of Saratov to 3.5 years in prison because of his religion.
On April 22, 2021, Dimitrovgrad City Court of Ulyanovsk Region granted a lawyer's petition for parole to Konstantin Bazhenov.
In January 2021 another Jehovah's Witness from Saratov, Felix Makhammadiev, who was unjustly convicted of extremism and deprived of Russian citizenship, was also deported from Russia after serving his sentence - to Uzbekistan. In both cases, the formal reason for the revocation of citizenship was a conviction under Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code.
Four more Saratov believers, sentenced by Judge Dmitry Larin to imprisonment, are expected to be released in the summer of 2021.