Updated: April 26, 2024
Name: Kletkin Igor Sergeyevich
Date of Birth: May 10, 1961
Current status: Defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2), 282.2 (1.1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility

Biography

In October 2021, peaceful pensioner Igor Kletkin was charged with extremism for reading the Bible and praying with his fellow believers. After the searches, he was detained for two days and then released under recognizance agreement.

Igor was born in May 1961 in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur (Khabarovsk Territory). In the family, he was the only child. After leaving school, he received the profession of a driver. For many years he worked by profession, working in public and private enterprises. He was also a security guard, a martial arts trainer, and later a comprehensive service worker at the Children's Art Center. Igor is now retired.

Since childhood, Igor loved music, learned to play the guitar. He still retains his hobby today. He enjoys hiking, cycling. Igor is often in nature, admiring the beautiful views of the Amur River.

Igor was always interested in spiritual questions about the meaning of life and what happens after death. He looked for answers from various preachers. Igor says: “When my mother was paralyzed, I was in despair, raised my head to the sky and asked God — why? When I learned from Jehovah's Witnesses that there would be eternal life on earth in wonderful conditions, I really liked this thought, I began to learn more about it from the Bible." In December 1999, he embarked on the Christian path. The knowledge gained prompted him to abandon the violence-related martial arts. But Igor still continues to maintain his physical shape.

Igor is married and has a daughter. The family is worried about the accusations against the head of the family, considering them groundless, since the beliefs of the believer are incompatible with the ideas of extremism.

Case History

In October 2021, in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, security forces searched the homes of peaceful Jehovah’s Witnesses, who were charged with extremism only because of their religion. Igor Kletkin and Vladislav Markov spent 2 days in a temporary detention facility. The investigator opened a criminal case against them, as well as Nadezhda Korobochko, for participation in extremist activities. The indictment was based on information gathered from surveillance, covert audio recordings of believers’ conversations, conflicting testimony from a secret witness, and falsified testimony from other witnesses. The case went to court in December 2022.