Gennadiy German

Name: German Gennadiy Vasiliyevich

Date of Birth: June 12, 1969

Current status: who has served the main sentence

Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)

Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 92 day in a pre-trial detention, 587 day in prison

Current restrictions: administrative supervision

Sentence: punishment in the form of 2 years of imprisonment to be served in a penal colony of general regime; with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to management and participation in the work of public organizations for a period of 5 years, with restriction of freedom for a period of 1 year

Released: July 28, 2021

Biography

Gennadiy German is one of six Saratov residents who served a court-ordered sentence for their faith in Jehovah God. On July 29, 2021, he left the colony and finally met his wife.

Gennadiy was born in 1969 in the village of Dzygovka (Ukraine). He was educated as a poster artist after his father, who is also an artist. He has three brothers and a sister. Since childhood, he has been fond of sports, fishing and outdoor activities.

In 1992, Gennadiy married Nadezhda, who works as an apparatus operator for chemical water purification. The couple love to travel and often invite friends to visit. They have an adult son who is involved in advertising.

In 2006, Gennadiy became a Christian. It was the love for the Bible that became the reason for the criminal prosecution.

In September 2019, the Leninskiy District Court of Saratov sentenced Gennadiy to 2 years in prison only because of his faith — the court considered peaceful meetings with fellow believers to be the organization of the activities of an extremist organization. This news hurt the emotional and mental state of Gennadiy's family. They are outraged that such law-abiding and peaceful people as Gennadiy are being persecuted for their faith in Russia.

Case History

In September 2019, Judge Dmitry Larin immediately sent 6 Saratov residents to prison for a term of 2 to 3.5 years just for reading the Bible, singing songs and praying. Since 2017, security forces have been conducting covert surveillance of believers. In the summer of 2018, their homes were searched with banned literature planted. While the investigation was underway, they had to go to a pre-trial detention center, under house arrest and under recognizance not to leave. A year later, despite the absence of victims in the case, the believers were found guilty. Upon arrival at the Orenburg colony, 5 out of 6 convicted believers were beaten by the staff of the institution. Mahammadiev was hospitalized, and the rest were placed in a punishment cell for a while. Saratov prisoners of conscience have mastered various professions in prison. In May 2020, Mahammadiev and Bazhenov were stripped of their Russian citizenship and, after their release, deported from Russia. All 6 believers have already served their sentences. In September 2022, the cassation court dismissed the complaint, and the verdict and the appellate ruling were unchanged.

Timeline