Court Imposes Large Fine on Aleksey Timofeyev from Karelia. Reason — Practicing Jehovah's Witnesses’ Religion

On August 31, 2026, the Petrozavodsk City Court issued a verdict against Aleksey Timofeyev, 32, — a fine of 500,000 rubles. He was found guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization, essentially for reading the Bible and sharing its contents with acquaintances.

In his final statement, the believer said: "Analyzing the actions I was accused of during this trial, I keep coming to the conclusion that I have nothing to reproach myself for — I did not kill anyone, did not injure anyone, did not steal anything, did not deceive anyone, and did not cause any other harm to people or the state."

During the court hearings, it became clear that statements attributed to Timofeyev were never made by him. In addition, the defense repeatedly pointed out discrepancies between the case materials and the recordings of operational-investigative measures. A key role in the case was played by witness Semakov, who acted on instructions from the FSB. According to the defense, his testimony contradicted the audio and video recordings. These recordings contained no evidence that Timofeyev invited his interlocutor to join any organization or spoke about the "correct" Bible of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Timofeyev spent one and a half months in the pretrial detention center. "When I was arrested," Aleksey explained, "I felt as if I had been disconnected from my usual life and everyday activities, as though I used to be a part of a large mechanism, and now I had been removed from the system. It took time to recover, to realize what had happened, and to understand what to do next."

It was especially difficult for him to be in a cell where people smoked constantly. Despite repeated requests to be transferred to a non-smoking cell, the head of the facility replied that this was not possible because 99% of the detainees smoke. The believer was supported by letters from friends and his wife, Marina. "She sent her photographs; I looked at them every day. This helped me feel that we were close and imagine how we would be together again," Aleksey recalls.

A criminal case against Timofeyev was initiated in March 2024; a week later, searches were conducted at seven addresses in Petrozavodsk, including his home. The case went to court in May 2025.

In Karelia, five more of Jehovah's Witnesses received large fines for their religious beliefs.