Dzhakhi Gonkhi Venans

Name: Dzhakhi Gonkhi Venans
Date of Birth: November 18, 1998
Current status: defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 339 day in a pre-trial detention
Current restrictions: detention center
Currently held in: Detention Center No.1 for Tomsk Region

Dzhakhi Gonkhi Venans , born 1998, Detention Center No.1 for Tomsk Region, Ul. Pushkina, 48, Tomsk, Tomsk Region, 634003

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the ZT system.

Note: discussing topics related to criminal prosecution is not allowed in letters; languages other than Russian will not pass.

Biography

Gonkhi Venans Dzhakhi, a citizen of Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa, was placed in a pretrial detention center in May 2025 because of his peaceful religious beliefs and his participation in meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Venans was born in November 1998 in the town of Toulépleu (Côte d'Ivoire) into a large family — he has eight brothers and sisters.

In 2013, the teenager was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and in 2022 he came to Russia to pursue a master's degree at Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics. While living in Tomsk, Venans worked at a burger restaurant and in delivery services. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer.

At the pretrial detention center, the believer spent some time in a solitary cell with poor sanitary and living conditions. During the winter, the window in the cell would not close, and it was extremely cold. Despite the recent loss of his father and after having been seriously ill, Venans remains determined to stay faithful to God.

Case History

After searches in Tomsk in March 2025, three married couples of Jehovah’s Witnesses were detained. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case for organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in these activities. The next day, the court sent Vladimir Pushkov, Aisula Tastaibekova, Yevgeniy Abramov and his wife Yana, Yevgeniy Dodolin and his wife Tatyana to a pre-trial detention center. In May, after another series of searches, Anton Novopashin, Yuriy Pichugin, Andrey Plekhanov and Gonhi Jahi, a student from Côte d’Ivoire, ended up in the pre-trial detention center.
Timeline
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