Inver Siyukhov in the courtroom. February 2024

Inver Siyukhov in the courtroom. February 2024

Inver Siyukhov in the courtroom. February 2024

Unjust Verdicts

In Adygea, Court of Appeal Upholds Verdict Against Inver Siyukhov from Maykop — 6 Years in Penal Colony. Almost Served His Entire Sentence in Pretrial Detention

Adygea

The verdict against Inver Siyukhov entered into force — this decision was made by the Supreme Court of Adygea on March 10, 2025. The believer attended the hearing via videoconferencing from the pretrial detention center. By that time, he had spent almost 4 years there. Inver is expected to be released in 1 month.

Siyukhov sought to overturn the verdict due to numerous violations committed by the court of first instance. The believer had to wait for a whole year for his appeal to be considered. It was noted: "The liturgical and other religious activity of I. R. Siyukhov do not constitute a crime. He did not use any literature on the federal list of extremist materials, nor was any studied at the meetings for worship held with his participation, and the procecution did not prove otherwise." As for the testimony of witnesses for the prosecution, the appeal states: "They have nothing to do with reality and are fictitious from beginning to end, which was vividly confirmed in the court hearing... [but] has not received proper legal assessment."

The court of appeal slightly changed the sentence only regarding additional punishment — the ban on engaging in educational activity was reduced from 4 years to 1 year.

Many Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia spend many years trying to prove their innocence in court, but in most cases to no avail. At the same time, human rights activists in Russia and abroad note that these people are prosecuted solely because of their faith. "The fact that I. R. Siyukhov was convicted precisely for his religious beliefs follows very clearly from the circumstances on which the court's verdict is based," said the believer's lawyer.

The Case of Siyukhov in Maykop

Case History
Operational-investigative measures against Inver Siyukhov from Maykop have been carried out, presumably, since 2018. In April 2021, the believer’s house was searched. He was arrested and placed in a pretrial detention center. The investigation considered the holding of religious meetings using the Internet to be organizing the activity of an extremist organization. In September 2021, Siyukhov’s case went to court. At the hearings, several witnesses mixed up their testimonies, and their words differed from the information from the interrogation protocols. At the hearings it also turned out that the psycholinguistic expert study, on which the charge was based, was carried out by an expert without the appropriate qualification. In February 2024, the prosecutor requested a sentence of 9 years in a penal colony for the peaceful believer. A month later, the court sentenced the believer to 6 years in a penal colony. In March 2025, the court of appeal upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Adygea
Locality:
Maykop
Suspected of:
"committed actions of an organizational nature... expressed in holding meetings using the Internet through the Internet application "Telegram" and mobile applications "Zoom" and "JW-Library"
Court case number:
12102790010000020
Initiated:
April 15, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Adygea
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-6/2024 (1-15/2023; 1-70/2022; 1-603/2021)
Court:
Maykop City Court of the Republic of Adygea
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Bella Stash
Case History
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