Kim Artem

Name: Kim Artem Stanislavovich
Date of Birth: January 3, 1988
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years 6 months of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for a period of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year, punishment in the form of imprisonment shall be considered conditional with a probationary period of 3 years 8 months

Biography

On February 15, 2019, mass searches were carried out in the homes of believers in Surgut. This was followed by beatings and torture of at least 7 believers. Among others, Artyom Kim reported torture. What is known about him?

Artem was born in 1988 in Surgut. As a child, he was fond of football, basketball and volleyball. After graduating from school, he graduated from the Surgut Petroleum College and has been working in the field of information technology for several years. He has many friends whom he helps with the repair of computer equipment and cars.

As a teenager, Artem heard about the Bible from his mother, who was guided by her advice when raising her son. What he learned seemed reasonable and logical to him. In 2013 he married Nadezhda.

Due to injuries received at school, Artem had to leave sports, but at the beginning of 2019, together with his wife, he mastered snowboarding. The couple even decided to go to a ski resort with friends at the end of February. It was not possible to implement these plans - the criminal case took all Artyom's free time, and the torture further undermined his health.

Artem's relatives are shocked and outraged by what is happening. It pains them to see that in a civilized society it is possible to persecute peaceful and decent people, and even more so when it is associated with inhuman torture.

Case History

In February 2019, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against 18 men and 1 woman from Surgut (among them was a person mistaken for one of Jehovah's Witnesses). Their homes were searched. During the interrogations, 7 believers were subjected to violence. Artur Severinchik was sent to a pretrial detention center for 29 days, while Yevgeniy Fedin and Sergey Loginov — for 56 days. Timofey Zhukov was unlawfully placed in a psychiatric hospital for 14 days. The believers filed complaints about the use of torture with the Investigative Committee, the ECHR and the Human Rights Ombudsman; a press conference was held with the participation of human rights activists, but none of the law enforcement officers was brought to justice. In October 2021, materials of the case (which was put into separate proceeding in 2020) went to court. Two years later, the court gave all of the believers suspended sentences ranging from 4 to 7 years. In February 2025, the court of appeal upheld this decision.
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