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, 1030 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
Term of imprisonment: until June 2029
Currently held in: Correctional Colony № 8, Amur Region

Kriger Valeriy Sergeyevich, born 1968, Correctional Colony № 8, Amur Region, Ul. Albazinskaya, 45, Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, 675010

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the F-pismo 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, a special FSB operation involving 150 officers took place in Birobidzhan under the code name "Judgment Day," marking the beginning of the persecution of more than 20 families of Jehovah's Witnesses. Alam Aliyev, Valeriy Kriger, Sergey Shulyarenko, and Dmitriy Zagulin were among those accused of extremism for holding religious services. They spent more than five months in pretrial detention. In December 2022, after more than two years of hearings, the court sentenced them to between 3.5 and 7 years in a penal colony. On appeal, the harshest of these sentences (given to Krieger) was reduced by three months. In September 2023, Sergey Shulyarenko was married while in the colony. Zagulin completed his sentence in the spring of 2026. The wives of three of the convicted men—Svetlana Monis, Tatyana Zagulina, and Natalya Kriger—were also subjected to criminal prosecution.
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