In Tatarstan, Three of Jehovah's Witnesses Were Sentenced to Long Suspended Sentences. The Court Found Them Guilty of Extremism for Believing in God

On September 5, 2023, the Judge of the Nizhnekamsk City Court of the Republic of Tatarstan sentenced to six years of suspended imprisonment: Sergey Kamenov, Denis Filatov, Stanislav Klyuchnikov and Dmitriy Yarchak, who has had a disability since childhood. The court considered prayers and the singing of religious songs to be extremism.

The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believers insist on their complete innocence.

In November 2020, the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Tatarstan initiated a criminal case and conducted a series of searches in the city of Nizhnekamsk. An investigation was launched against the three men, which lasted fourteen months. In January 2022, the case went to court, where it was considered for another nineteen months. All this time, the believers were under recognizance agreement. Several witnesses summoned to court for questioning stated that they gave testimony to the investigator under pressure and threats from the security forces, and one woman reported that the investigator arbitrarily entered words into the protocol that she did not say. The main part of the accusation is based on the testimony of a secret witness.

Speaking in court, the believers explained that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Klyuchnikov said: "I believe that the preliminary investigation agency are incorrectly and arbitrarily interpreting the decision of the Supreme Court. And it is their misinterpretation, and not the alleged crime I committed, that is the reason why I am on trial today." Denis Filatov added: "The episodes of participation in worship services imputed to me can only indicate the exercise of the right to profess one's religion and use methods of expressing faith that were not prohibited." Dmitriy Yarchak also said: "By being peaceful and by observing the law, I use the right guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation."

In Tatarstan, thrteen more people faced persecution for their faith in Jehovah God. One of them, Konstantin Sannikov, has been sentenced to six years and six months in prison.