First Sentence in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area: Father of Two, Andrey Sazonov, Convicted for Discussing the Bible

On December 24, 2021, the judge of the Uray City Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra, Ilnur Gilmanov, found 41-year-old Andrey Sazonov guilty of organizing and financing the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to a fine of 500 thousand Russian rubles (about 6800 US dollars).

The verdict to Andrey Sazonov has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to impose a penalty of 1.5 million rubles on the believer. The court reduced the requested amount by three times.

A criminal case against Andrey Sazonov was initiated by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug — Yugra on January 31, 2019. On February 6, 2019, searches were carried out in Uray in 8 homes of citizens whom the authorities considered Jehovah's Witnesses. The security forces detained Andrey Sazonov, interrogated him and sent him to a temporary detention center.

The believer recalls: “When I realized that after being interrogated by the investigator I would not return home, of course, I was very worried. The unknown was frightening. The most difficult, probably, was to understand that now you will find yourself in separation from loved ones. The realization that there is nothing you can do to help them ... Yes, and before that we had never parted with my wife for more than two days.” Sazonov temporarily lost the opportunity to provide for his family and take care of the needs of his wife Viktoriya and two minor children. The believer was included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring, and all his accounts were blocked.

During the 20 days that Sazonov spent in custody, he was transported three times from one place of detention to another. The journeys took several days. He said: “I was taken to a compartment called a ‘glass.’ There is enough space in it to just sit down. Your knees, shoulders, and back press against walls from all sides. It's difficult even to move. I was being transported in this position for about 6 hours. It was very cold that day, about 40 degrees below zero. I remember when we arrived at the Khanty-Mansiysk temporary detention facility, I already had a strong inner tremor because I could not get warm.” The “glass” does not exceed 50 by 80 cm in size and, in essence, is a metal cabinet with a door that has either one hole or many small ones — for negotiations and air intake.

After 20 days of imprisonment, the court placed Andrey Sazonov under house arrest, under which he spent about 7 months with a bracelet on his leg.

The investigation of the criminal case lasted more than a year, after which on April 30, 2020, the case was transferred to the court. The charge was based on audio and video recordings of worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses, which were made by one of the witnesses at the request of the police. These records, as well as prosecution witnesses, did not confirm the facts of extremist actions or statements on Sazonov's part. The experts also pointed to the absence of extremism in the case materials sent for examination.

Sazonov holds a responsible position of the first deputy general director at the utility enterprise “Urayteploenergia.” He was awarded with diplomas from the city administration, as well as from the management of the enterprise, where he has been working for many years. Employees at work described Sazonov in court as a conscientious, kind and non-conflict person, a responsible employee and a good supervisor who is always ready to help.

In the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, the court is also considering a case against 19 Jehovah's Witnesses from Surgut and one person mistakenly considered by the investigation as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Some of the believers reported that they were tortured during interrogations.

On December 8, 2021, Andrey Babushkin, member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, sent an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with the ongoing persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Noting the importance of the clarifications given on October 28, 2021 by the Plenum of the Supreme Court on the constitutional right of believers to continue to practice their religion, the human rights activist expressed regret over the actions of the judicial system. Babushkin notes: “The investigative authorities and courts by inertia continue to sanction searches and arrests of believers and pass convictions on them ... At the same time, people are being tried for what, according to the position of the RF Supreme Court, is not a crime.”