Name: Kriger Valeriy Sergeyevich
Date of Birth: January 11, 1968
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Time spent in prison: 164 day in a pre-trial detention, 557 day in prison
Sentence: Sentence of 6 years and 9 months of imprisonment in a penal colony, deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for a term of 4 years, restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year
Currently held in: Correctional Colony No. 8 of the Amur Region
Address for correspondence: Kriger Valeriy Sergeyevich, born 1968, Correctional Colony No. 8 of the Amur Region, Ul. Albazinskaya, 45, Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, 675010

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the «FSIN-letter system». To pay for service with the card of a foreign bank use Prisonmail.

Parcels and parcels should not be sent because of the limit on their number per year.

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

Biography

In May 2018, Valeriy Krieger was searched. Then the believer learned that a criminal case had been opened against him and accused of extremism. Later, in February 2020, his wife Natalya became the accused. In July 2021, the court sentenced her to 2.5 years of probation.

Valeriy was born in January 1968. Since childhood, he attended the sports section, mastered the master of sports program in jumping acrobatics, participated in competitions and demonstration performances in pair and group acrobatics.

After school, Valeriy entered the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports of the Khabarovsk Pedagogical Institute. In his senior years, he was fascinated by recreational activities, he graduated from massage courses at the department of the Institute of Physical Education in Khabarovsk. After graduation, Valeriy worked as a massage therapist in a polyclinic, and since 2000 he has his own massage room.

In 2017, Valeriy married Nataliya, a close-minded person. As a child, Nataliya, after the death of her mother, ended up in an orphanage. From there she was taken by her grandmother, who raised her. She helped Nataliya understand the value of Bible advice and principles. Nataliya and Valeriy took care of their bedridden grandmother for 6 years, until her death in February 2020.

The couple love to spend time with friends, play volleyball, and are fond of rafting down the river on boats.

Valeriy's parents, although they do not share the religious views of their son, treat them with respect. They, the adult daughter of Valeriy from his first marriage, colleagues and patients do not hide their excitement because of his criminal prosecution.

Case History

In May 2018, in the city of Birobidzhan a special FSB operation with the participation of 150 security officials, code-named "Judgement Day", took place. More than 20 families of Jehovah's Witnesses have become victims of criminal prosecution, including Alam Aliyev,Valeriy Kriger, Sergey Shulyarenko, and Dmitriy Zagulin. The believers were charged with holding meetings for worship, which the investigation deemed to be the organizing the activity of an extremist organization and financing it. They spent more than 5 months in pretrial detention. In November 2020, the case went to court. The hearings lasted more than 2 years, and in December 2022, the court sentenced Zagulin to 3.5 years, Aliyev to 6.5 years, and Shulyarenko and Kriger to 7 years in a penal colony. The court of appeal upheld the terms of Zagulin and Aliyev and reduced those of Shulyarenko and Kriger by 3 months. The court of cassation upheld the verdict in March 2024. The wives of three of the convicts were also prosecuted: Svetlana Monis, Tatyana Zagulina and Natalya Kriger. In September 2023, Sergey Shulyarenko's wedding took place in the penal colony.
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