In the photo: Sean Pike gives an interview during the Moscow Urban Forum. 2019 year.

In the photo: Sean Pike gives an interview during the Moscow Urban Forum. 2019 year.

In the photo: Sean Pike gives an interview during the Moscow Urban Forum. 2019 year.

Criminal trial

One of Jehovah's Witnesses from Gayana, Arrested in Moscow, is Forced to Sleep on the Floor, Although There Are Free Beds in the Pre-trial Detention Center

Moscow

On August 27, 2021, Sean Pike, a 49-year-old Jehovah's Witness who was detained in Moscow for his faith , was placed in an overcrowded cell in Kapotnya Detention Center 7, given a mattress, and has been forced to sleep on the floor ever since. According to the lawyer, the situation can only be explained by a manifestation of domestic racism.

“High-class specialist Sean Pike is not a murderer, not a thief, and not involved in drugs. He's a decent man. The attitude towards him is caused only by the color of his skin, this is just everyday racism, ”said his lawyer.

As he explained, it is known that other cells of this pre-trial detention center are not overcrowded, some have free places. Of all those detained, only a black believer is subjected to such humiliating treatment.

A native of Georgetown, Sean Pike is a citizen of Gayana and Russia. He is married and has two young children with chronic diseases in his care. In 1997, Pike graduated from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia with honors, his thesis was recognized as the best that year. For almost 8 years he worked in the Ministry of Transport of Gayana. The believer has been working in the Russian Federation since 2010, from June 2012 to the present - in the Moscow office of one of the international design and construction companies. Sean Pike holds the position of senior project team leader and, as stated in his job description, has shown himself to be "a responsible, balanced and competent employee", which is not tied to suspicions of extremism.

Sean Pike, as well as two other Jehovah's Witnesses, Eduard Sviridov and Aleksandr Rumyantsev, were detained during searches of the homes of believers in the Teply Stan district on August 25, 2021. They were placed in a temporary detention center, and two days later the Cheremushkinsky District Court of Moscow sent them into custody until at least 24 October. Believers are accused of "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In the opinion of the investigator Vladimir Zubkov, who initiated the case, conversations about the Bible "have an increased public danger."

The Case of Rumyantsev and Others in Moscow

Case History
In August 2021, three Jehovah’s Witnesses, Eduard Sviridov, Sean Pike, and Aleksandr Rumyantsev, were arrested after searches in Moscow’s Tepliy Stan District. For practicing their religion, they were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. The believers were placed in a pretrial detention center, where they spent 2 years and 4 months. In the first days of his imprisonment, Sean Pike, father of two and a RUDN University graduate from Guyana, was placed in an overcrowded cell and forced to sleep on the floor. In October 2021, Pike had COVID. The case went to court in November 2022. The charges were based on hidden audio recordings made in Sviridov’s home. After 13 months, the case ended with a guilty verdict. The court sent the believers to a penal colony: Aleksandr Rumyantsev for 7.5 years, Sean Pike for 7 years, and Eduard Sviridov for 6.5 years.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Moscow
Locality:
Moscow
Court case number:
12102450035000080
Initiated:
August 24, 2021
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
SU for the South-West Administrative District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Moscow
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
01-0211/2023 (01-1003/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Черемушкинский районный суд
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Сергей Хомяков
Case History
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