Victoriya Verkhoturova at the courthouse

Victoriya Verkhoturova at the courthouse

Victoriya Verkhoturova at the courthouse

Unjust Verdicts

A Nizhny Novgorod Appeal Upheld Victoriya Verkhoturova's Four-Year Suspended Sentence

Nizhegorod Region

On May 12, 2022, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court upheld the verdict against Victoriya Verkhoturova from Nizhny Novgorod. A panel of judges chaired by Nikolay Kozlov found the believer guilty of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, interpreting this as extremism.

In November 2021, a lower court sentenced Verkhoturova to 4 years suspended for participation in the activities of a banned organization. The verdict has entered into force. The believer still does not plead guilty to extremism and has the right to appeal the verdict on cassation.

In the summer of 2019, the home of Victoriya and her husband Sergey was searched, during which the believers were subjected to psychological pressure. Phones were tapped in the family for a long time and covert video filming was carried out. For 1 year and 10 months, Victoriya was under house arrest and proper behavior.

The case featured a secret witness of "Sidorov" and a witness for the prosecution, who "never heard that Viktoriya Verkhoturova involved anyone in a banned organization", and also "never saw her on stage with any appeals." The other prosecution witness never met Victoriya in person.

In total, 16 people in the Nizhny Novgorod region are subjected to criminal prosecution for believing in Jehovah God. Victoriya's husband Sergey Verkhoturov received 6 years of suspended sentence, three more were given 3 years suspended.

According to the statement of the Government of the Russian Federation, “the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2017 and the appeal ruling of the Board of Appeal of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 17, 2017 do not provide an assessment of the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to profess individually the above religion”. On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.

Case of Verhoturova in Nizhniy Novgorod

Case History
Viktoriya and Sergey Verkhoturov from Nizhny Novgorod were victims of religious persecution when armed security forces broke into their homes in the summer of 2019. During the search, they threatened Viktoria with “terrible conditions in prison, where her psyche would suffer.” Earlier, the special services installed a hidden video camera in the believers’ apartment and listened to Sergey’s telephone conversations in order to prove that the couple continued to discuss the Bible with others. As a result, the investigation opened two criminal cases: in June 2019, Sergey became accused under the “extremist” article, and in March 2020, Victoria. The accusation was based on the recordings of worship services and the perjury of the secret witness “Sidorova”. In November 2020, Victoria’s case was submitted to the Prioksky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod. A year later, judge Viktor Yakovlev sentenced the believer to 4 years of suspended sentence. In May 2022, the appeal upheld the verdict of the believer.
Timeline

Persons in case

Verhoturova
Viktoriya

Criminal case

Region:
Nizhegorod Region
Locality:
Nizhny Novgorod
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, she participated in the activities of a banned religious organization, which was expressed in "participation in meetings, religious speeches and services at them, the implementation of preaching activities."
Court case number:
12001220089000172
Initiated:
July 22, 2019
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Department of Internal Affairs of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Nizhny Novgorod Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-59/2021 (1-360/2020)
Court:
Приокский районный суд г. Нижний Новгород
Judge:
Виктор Яковлев
Case History