Tatyana Piskareva near the regional court, where on May 16, 2024 her appeal was considered

Tatyana Piskareva near the regional court, where on May 16, 2024 her appeal was considered

Tatyana Piskareva near the regional court, where on May 16, 2024 her appeal was considered

Unjust Verdicts

Court of Appeal in Oryol Upheld the Sentence of 68-year-old Tatyana Piskareva - 2.5 Years of Forced Labor for Her Faith in Jehovah

Oryol Region

The verdict against Tatyana Piskareva, sentenced to 2.5 years of forced labor entered into force – on May 16, 2024, the Oryol Regional Court did not satisfy her appeal. The believer has already been separated for 3.5 years from her husband, who was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony on similar charges of extremism.

In March, the Sovetskiy District Court of the city of Oryol found Piskareva guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization for attending peaceful meetings for worship. According to the investigation, the believer acted out of religious "hatred and enmity." However, this was not proven in court. The verdict was appealed. "I worshipped my God Jehovah peacefully ... I did not prevent anyone from living their personal lives, no one was hurt ... I obeyed the laws of the country in which I live. And suddenly I was falsely accused of something I had never participated in," Piskareva said, addressing the court of appeal in her final statement.

"My completely legitimate conduct, aimed only at expressing my faith in ways typical of Jehovah's Witnesses around the world, was wrongly regarded by the court as illegal actions ... At the same time, the law does not consider practicing the religion, which the liquidated religious associations belonged to, including together with others, as a sign of extremism. Therefore, declaring a legal entity as extremist is not tantamount to imposing a ban on a religion," Tatyana explained.

In the Oryol Region, 8 Jehovah's Witnesses have already been prosecuted for their faith, 3 of them have been sentenced to imprisonment.

The Case of Piskareva in Oryol

Case History
In December 2020, raids against Jehovah's Witnesses took place in Oryol. Among those to whom the security forces broke in were Vladimir Piskarev and his wife Tatyana. Vladimir was arrested. In October 2021, Tatyana also became a defendant in a criminal case for her belief in Jehovah God. The believer was accused of participating in peaceful worship. In March 2023, the case went to court. Eleven interrogated prosecution witnesses reported that they did not know Tatyana, had not received any literature from her, and had not heard any extremist appeals. After a year of court hearings, the believer was sentenced to 2.5 years of forced labor. The court of appeal and cassation upheld this decision.
Timeline

Persons in case

Piskareva
Tatyana

Criminal case

Region:
Oryol Region
Locality:
Oryol
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, she "took part in meetings of a banned religious organization."
Court case number:
12102540005000067
Initiated:
October 28, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department for the Sovetskiy District of the City of Oryol of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-9/2024 (1-183/2023)
Court of First Instance:
Sovetskiy District Court of the City of Oryol
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Dmitriy Sukhov
Case History
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