Court of Appeal in Khabarovsk Commuted the Most Severe Verdict to Date Against Jehovah's Witnesses. Three Men Have Been Released and Will Serve Suspended Sentences

On October 10, 2024, the Khabarovsk Territory Court reduced the terms imposed by the court of first instance on Vitaliy Zhuk, Nikolay Polevodov and Stanislav Kim by 1 year and changed them to suspended sentences with a 5-year probation period. The believers were released from the pretrial detention center.

The prosecution had sought a tougher punishment: in his statement, Assistant Prosecutor A.M. Snytko requested that 9 years in a penal colony for the men and from 4 to 5 years suspended sentences for women be imposed. The believers maintain that they are completely innocent of extremism. In her appeal, Tatyana Zhuk stated: "The sentence passed against me should be overturned, since it was made with significant violations of the norms of the RF Constitution, international legal acts, criminal and criminal procedural legislation, and the conclusions set out in it contradict the factual circumstances of the case." Nikolay Polevodov emphasized: "I was convicted solely for my religious beliefs. Even though I expressed these beliefs in an absolutely lawful way."

In response to the appeals from the believers and the prosecutor's office, the court of appeal ruled to commute the sentences of the court of first instance for: Polyevodov — to 7.5 years, Kim – to 7 years and 2 months, Zhuk — to 7 years, his wife Tatyana and Svetlana Sedova — to 4 years, and Maya Karpushkina — to 3 years all suspended.