Biography
Vladislav Sergeevich Kolbanov was born in 1992 in Orenburg. He worked in the field of computer maintenance. When he was 6 years old, his mother, an engineer by training, began studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses and instilling Christian values in her children, Vladislav and his younger sister. In 2008, Vladislav was baptized in his newfound faith.
At the age of 18, Vladislav was waiting for a test: he asked the military registration and enlistment office to satisfy his legal right to replace military service with alternative civilian service. At first he was refused, but after three and a half years of litigation, he was given this opportunity. Throughout his service, Vladislav took care of the elderly in a nursing home in Orenburg.
Paradoxically, this meek young man, who fought for years for the right not to take up arms, is now accused of extremism. The criminal prosecution had a serious impact on the health of some members of his family. On the other hand, Vladislav's father, not being one of Jehovah's Witnesses, under the impression of his son's Christian steadfastness, began to read the Bible regularly.
Case History
In May 2018, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against Vladimir Kochnev, Vladislav Kolbanov, Pavel Lekontsev, Sergey Logunov, Nikolay Zhugin,
Aleksandr Suvorov, and
Aleksey Matveev. Later, the cases of Suvorov and Matveev were separated into separate proceedings. The believers from Orenburg were charged with organizing and financing the activity of an extremist organization and participating in it. This was because of meetings with friends in a café. After their homes were searched, three men were placed under recognizance agreements, and two were detained. Kochnev spent 76 days in pretrial detention and 72 days under house arrest, while Kolbanov spent 149 days under house arrest. In December 2019, the case went to court, but a month later it was returned to the prosecutor's office due to the vague nature of the charges. The retrial of the case by another judge began in February 2021. The charge is based on the testimony of the undercover agent V. Yudin. In August 2023, the judge gave the believers suspended sentences: Logunov and Zhugin — 2.5 years, Kochnev — 2 years and 8 months, Lekontsev — 3 years, and Kolbanov — 3.5 years. The court of appeal upheld the verdict.
