Roman Mareyev after his release

Roman Mareyev after his release

Roman Mareyev after his release

Served Sentences

Roman Mareyev Released After 3 Years in Pretrial Detention

Moscow

On October 25, 2024, Roman Mareyev, 46, was released, having completely served his sentence for his faith. After the guilty verdict, he was never transferred to the penal colony. In total, he spent 1,100 days in three different pretrial detention centers in Moscow.

A criminal case against Mareyev was initiated in October 2021 and then his home was searched. He was placed in a temporary detention facility and then in a pretrial detention center. When Roman was placed in the pretrial detention center, he did not have a bed and slept on the floor. The believer's sister said that it was not easy for him to be in a smoky cell, hear obscene language from his cellmates and try to sleep with the TV turned on day and night. Reading the Bible, regular physical exercise, and weekly letters from family, friends and even people he did not know, helped Roman to stay positive. "During my years in detention, I received letters from 68 countries, not counting Russia," Roman said.

Roman's elderly parents, who are disabled, were very much looking forward to their son returning home. He is glad to be able to take care of them again.

Mareyev liked showing kindness to others while he was in detention. According to Roman, some inmates admitted that they had never before experienced such a positive atmosphere among cellmates. "This was possible because millions of people were praying," he said.

Roman and those close to him are grateful to everyone who went to the court hearings. "We had to stand outside all day in bad weather, but the friends were ready to make these sacrifices just to meet and see off the prison van with applause," his sister said. "Once the guys were taken out of the courthouse at 1:30 a.m., and despite such a late hour, they were greeted with applause."

Two other defendants in the criminal case, Anatoliy Marunov and Sergey Tolokonnikov, are still in custody.

The Case of Mareyev and Others in Moscow

Case History
In October 2021, the Investigative Committee conducted at least eight searches in different districts of Moscow and the Moscow Region. Anatoliy Marunov, Sergey Tolokonnikov and Roman Mareyev were detained and sent to a temporary detention facility. Later, Mareyev and Tolokonnikov were placed in a detention center, and Marunov was placed under house arrest. A criminal case was initiated against them under an article for extremism. In June 2022, the case went to court. The charge was based on recordings made by an FSB agent who pretended to be interested in the Bible. In July 2023, the defendants were sentenced: 69-year-old veteran of work Marunov – 6.5 years, 50-year-old Tolokonnikov – 5 years, and 45-year-old Mareyev – 4.5 years in a penal colony. A year later, the court of appeal toughened Tolokonnikov’s sentence, adding 2 months to his term. Roman Mareyev was released on October 25, 2024.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Moscow
Locality:
Moscow
Suspected of:
"acted as heads and communicative leaders of the religious organization, by organizing and conducting discussions, monitoring presentations of participants, commenting on passages of text read out" (from the Ruling to charge)
Court case number:
12102450011000104
Initiated:
October 20, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Department for Investigating Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate for the Northern Administrative District of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the City of Moscow
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (1)
Court case number:
01-0123/2023 (01-0997/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Savelovskiy District Court of the City of Moscow
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Dmitriy Zozulya
Case History
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