Court of Appeal in Udmurtia Replaces Suspended Sentences of Two Jehovah's Witnesses From Izhevsk with Imprisonment

The appeal hearing in the case of Aleksandr Votyakov and Yevgeniy Stefanidin ended with a tougher sentence. On February 4, 2025, the Supreme Court of the Udmurt Republic sided with the prosecutor's office and sent the believers to a penal colony: Aleksandr for 6.5 years, and Yevgeniy for 6 years.

During the trial, the defense filed a motion to recuse A. R. Kudryavtsev, one of the judges of the panel. Previously, he was involved in cases against believers from Izhevsk and Votkinsk. According to the defense, he "had already formed his opinion about Jehovah's Witnesses and cannot be impartial and objective in the consideration of this criminal case." The court, however, rejected the motion.

Both believers consider any conviction against them to be unjust. In their appeals, they stressed that they were acting solely within the framework of the constitutional right to freedom of religion. Votyakov and Stefanidin also drew attention to arguments refuting the conclusions of the court of first instance that they "undermined the foundations of the constitutional order and state security and acted from extremist motives." According to Votyakov, "none of the 11 witnesses for the prosecution or 6 witnesses for the defense indicated this." Stefanidin added: "[All] witnesses for the prosecution described me entirely in positive terms, referring to the beneficial influence of my religion on my life."

Despite the absence of signs of extremism in the actions of Jehovah's Witnesses, the courts continue to impose severe punishments on them for their faith. In January 2025 alone, there were 6 guilty verdicts against believers from different parts of the country.