Belousov Sergey

Name: Belousov Sergey Yuriyevich
Date of Birth: March 20, 1978
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 3 years, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to the placement of appeals and other materials in information and telecommunication networks, including the Internet, for a term of 5 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year, the main punishment in the form of imprisonment is considered suspended with a probationary period of 3 years

Biography

Biblical truths once greatly affected Sergey Belousov, a civilian resident of Seversk. Faith in God helped him find meaning in life, but now it has become a pretext for criminal prosecution. In March 2021, law enforcement officers notified the believer that a criminal case had been opened against him.

Sergey was born in March 1978 in the small town of Esil (Kazakhstan) into a family of musicians. Sergey has an older brother. Their mother is a piano teacher, and their father is a piano and accordion teacher.

As a child, Sergey attended the sports sections of sambo and boxing. After school, he came to study at the Tomsk Instrument-Making College, where he received a specialty in electronics engineering. Later Sergey graduated from Tomsk Polytechnic University. For 10 years he worked at a petrochemical plant as an electrician, group leader, site manager, and later as a designer at a design institute.

In 1997, while studying at a technical school, Sergey met his future wife Svetlana, who was studying to be a software engineer. They got married 2 years later. The spouses enjoy ice skating and outdoor recreation in their free time. Sergei also loves football and playing the guitar, and Svetlana is engaged in needlework - knitting, sewing, and also riding a bicycle.

In 2001, Sergey first met Jehovah's Witnesses, who helped him find answers in the Bible to questions that worried him. After some time, Sergey's wife joined the study of the Holy Scriptures, because she had always believed in God and considered the Bible to be a special book. She soon became a Christian too.

In 2000, the couple had a daughter. She was raised as a believer. She enjoys playing the piano and guitar, as well as creativity and foreign language studies.

The criminal prosecution negatively affected the physical and emotional health of Sergey and his family: it deprived them of peace, they are not left with a feeling of constant surveillance. “Every knock on the door gives rise to anxiety, as the feelings experienced during the search are recalled,” says Sergey. In addition, the believer's chronic diseases have worsened: headaches have become more frequent, there are sudden surges in pressure and sleep disturbances. Sergey's daughters began to have nightmares.

Sergey's relatives are very worried about him and his family. They just cannot understand how in the 21st century a person who is trying to lead a highly moral lifestyle can be persecuted for believing in God and labeled an "extremist" on him.

Case History

For several months, intelligence agent Kira Klisheva, who portrayed an interest in the Bible, kept covert video recordings of Jehovah’s Witnesses worship services in Seversk. She transmitted the data to the FSB. In July 2020, employees of the Investigative Committee invaded with a search of a peaceful family man Sergey Belousov. In March 2021, the Investigation Department for the Closed Administrative Territory of Seversk opened a criminal case against the believer, separating him from the case of Yevgeny Korotun. Belousov was accused of extremism, which, according to the investigation, was expressed in participation in worship services, the performance of religious songs and prayers. In July 2021, the case was submitted to the Seversky City Court of the Tomsk Region. It was considered by judge Ekaterina Soldatenko. On April 14, 2022, Belousov was sentenced to 3 years of probation with restriction of liberty for 1 year. In June 2022, the appellate court upheld this decision.
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