Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Alyev Ruslan Ramizovich
Date of Birth: June 21, 1987
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 555 day Under house arrest
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 2 years 6 months, the punishment shall be considered suspended with a probationary period of 2 years 6 months

Biography

On March 1, 2021, the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence handed down to Ruslan Alyev by the Leninsky District Court in December 2020. The believer was given a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence just because he prayed and read the Bible with his wife and friends.

Ruslan was born in 1987 in the village of Chunoyar, Krasnoyarsk Territory. He has a younger sister. As a child, his family moved frequently, so Ruslan also lived in Azerbaijan and Ukraine. He was a versatile child: he was fond of sports, foreign languages, dancing, read a lot, wrote poetry. He graduated with honors from the Rostov Technical School of Railway Transport, as well as Chinese language courses. He worked as a builder, finisher, roofer, sales assistant, guitar and English tutor, and recently teaches Chinese. In total, Ruslan knows four languages, writes and performs songs with a guitar.

In 2006, Ruslan met Kristina, a few years later they got married. Kristina is a hairdresser by profession, sings well and is fond of needlework. Together with her husband, she studies Chinese.

From the age of 13, Ruslan loves to read the Bible and write down interesting thoughts from it. Over time, he found answers to all his questions in this book and became a staunch Christian. Ruslan's relatives and friends, as well as acquaintances who do not share his religious views, are outraged by the absurdity of the verdict. Everyone understands that extremism is incompatible with the personality and reputation of a believer.

Case History

Ruslan Alyev, a native of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, spent about 1.5 years under house arrest while the First Investigation Department (based in Rostov-on-Don) of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation conducted an investigation into how he prayed, read the Bible and talked with his wife and friends about their common faith. Alyev was accused of participating in extremist activities. Among the evidence against Ruslan was the testimony of a secret witness, whose words were accepted by the judge of the Leninsky District Court of the Rostov Region, Vladimir Strokov, even without questioning. The court also did not give the defense the opportunity to question a secret witness. In December 2020, Ruslan Alyev was found guilty. On March 1, 2021, the Rostov Regional Court, by an appeal decision, upheld the sentence of 2.5 years of suspended imprisonment imposed on him. The court of cassation did not satisfy the believer’s appeal against the appeal decision.