Nerush Vitaliy

Name: Nerush Vitaliy Alekseyevich
Date of Birth: May 31, 1979
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 161 day in a pre-trial detention
Current restrictions: detention center
Sentence: imprisonment for a term of 6 years with serving in a general regime penal colony, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public religious organizations for a term of 5 years, with restriction of freedom for a term of 1 year
Currently held in: Detention Center No.1 for Voronezh Region

Nerush Vitaliy Alekseyevich, born 1979, Detention Center No.1 for Voronezh Region, ul. Zhelyabova, 56, Voronezh, Voronezh Region, 394030

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.

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

Biography

In July 2020 in the Voronezh region there were mass searches of Jehovah's Witnesses houses. Ten men aged 24 to 56 were thrown in jail. One of them was Vitaliy Nerush. What is known about him?

Vitaliy was born in 1979 in Pavlodar (Kazakhstan). As a child he liked to assemble models of airplanes, to draw, to sculpt with plasticine. In 2007 he graduated from Voronezh State Technical University as an electrical engineer. Before his arrest he worked in the sphere of repair and finishing of premises.

Parents from a young age encouraged Vitaliy to respect the Bible. The love and unity he felt among Christians helped Vitaly to become a convinced Christian.

In 2016 Vitaly married Aleksandra, a girl who shared his beliefs. She works as a seamstress, is fond of needlework and household management. In his spare time Vitaliy takes up photography. Together spouses love to travel, especially in the mountains.

Despite the severe stress of criminal prosecution, Vitaliy and Aleksandra try to stay calm and believe in a fair outcome of the case.

Case History

On a single day, July 13, 2020, 110 searches were carried out in seven localities of the Voronezh Region — a record-breaking operation against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Five believers reported being tortured by law enforcement officers. The Investigative Committee charged 10 men (then aged 24 to 56) with organizing extremist activity and sent them to pretrial detention, where most remained for nearly 5 months. The events in Voronezh sparked widespread public outcry: EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, expressed regret and dismay over what had happened. The believers deny any guilt in extremism and emphasize that, as Christians, they respect the authorities and peacefully practice their faith in accordance with their constitutional rights. The trial began in December 2021. Nearly 4 years later, the believers were given various punishments — ranging from a 6-year suspended sentence to 7 years in a penal colony.
Timeline
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