Suspended Sentence of 6 Years for Faith in Jehovah God. Court in Kemerovo Found Vladimir Baykalov Guilty of Extremism

A court gave Vladimir Baikalov, 60, a 6-year suspended sentence for talking about the Bible with friends. This decision was made on October 23, 2023, by Marina Romanina, judge of the Zavodsky District Court of the city of Kemerovo. The state prosecutor requested the believer be sent to a penal colony for 7 years.

"I used to teach people how to fight, and now I teach them to love," said former boxing coach Vladimir Baykalov, emphasizing the absurdity of the charge. "[Before becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses], I devoted many years to boxing, even though it was not only my dream job, but it was my life... The Bible taught me, instead of aggression, to show love to people and instead of causing pain, it [nurtured] a desire and willingness to help. This is the complete opposite of extremism, hatred or enmity."

Aleksandra Isayeva, investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, initiated a criminal case in February 2022. A day later, Baykalov's home was searched. The law enforcement officers equated peaceful conversations about God to organizing the activity of an extremist organization. However, there is no evidence in the case of calls or statements on the part of Vladimir promoting extremism. The witnesses who spoke in court, also did not hear anything like this from Baykalov. At least one of them stated that the protocol of his interrogation was falsified. The believer drew the court's attention to the comments of the officers to the transcripts of the audio recordings of the meetings for worship: "Conversations of any relevance to the operation have not been recorded." The audio recordings show believers discussing the importance of following Bible standards and displaying qualities such as modesty and humility.

Even before the court proceedings, Vladimir Baykalov was twice subjected to a psychiatric examination. According to the believer, during one of them, the doctor who cooperated with the investigation, exerted strong psychological pressure on him and threatened him with forced hospitalization, trying to force Baykalov to incriminate himself.

Vladimir said that friends helped him and his wife to cope with all the difficulties. "You just can't do without their help in these difficult times. They shared encouraging thoughts and provided tremendous support at court hearings. Once the prosecutor said: "There are so many listeners – who are they to you?" I replied: "They are relatives and friends." He was surprised. Also, immediately after the search, fellow believers helped us financially."

The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.

In Kuzbass, 15 cases have been initiated against Jehovah's Witnesses. The sentences of 11 believers have already entered into force. Two of them, Sergey Ananin and Andrey Vlasov, are serving long sentences in a penal colony.