Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov in the court, December 2022
Court of Cassation Confirmed the Prison Terms for Believers from Zeya: 6.5 and 6 Years. Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov Will Continue to Serve Their Sentences in the Penal Colony
Amur RegionOn March 19, 2024, the judicial panel of the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok rejected the appeal of Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov and confirmed the sentence of the court of first instance: 6.5 and 6 years in a penal colony, respectively.
In their cassation appeals, the believers reminded the court that law enforcement agencies had not established a single fact that they had committed unlawful actions. Also, not a single victim was identified. The defendants' lawyer stressed that "their motive was not extremism, but the intention to exercise the right to practice and spread their faith." The convicted persons are described exclusively in a positive light. Bitusov has a young daughter.
In the Amur Region, 23 of Jehovah's Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution on religious grounds. 13 of them are already serving sentences in the penal colony.