Nikolayev Aleksandr

Updated: May 3, 2024
Name: Nikolayev Aleksandr Georgiyevich
Date of Birth: August 26, 1973
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 385 day in a pre-trial detention, 335 day in prison
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 2 years 6 months with serving the sentence in a correctional colony of general regime

Biography

A peaceful family man from the village of Kholmskaya, the father of five children, Aleksandr Nikolayev, was prosecuted for his love of the Bible. The believer had to spend 2.5 years in a penal colony because of his beliefs. He was released in September 2023.

Aleksandr was born in August 1973 in the city of Salavat, one of the largest industrial centers of the Republic of Bashkortostan. He has an elder brother.

As a child, Aleksandr attended sports sections and played chess. After graduating from a technical school, he received the specialty of an electrician for the repair of household appliances, then worked in metallurgy as a slinger. At the age of 18, Aleksandr was called to serve in the Northern Fleet.

In the mid-1990s, he began reading the Bible, from which he learned that God has a personal name, Jehovah. This impressed Aleksandr, and in 1996 he decided to become a Christian.

At the age of 24, Aleksandr married Yevgeniya from the village of Kholmskaya. She shares his life values. Yevgeniya works as a crane operator in a metallurgical production facility, and in her spare time she is engaged in aquarium management. The large family has three adult sons and two minor adopted daughters. The whole family of the Nikolayevs love to go to the sea and walk in the forest, as well as go scuba diving.

Aleksandr's parents, who do not share his religious beliefs, experienced a lot of unrest and still do not understand why their son was convicted.

Case History

In April 2021, FSB officers, accompanied by riot police, came to search the home of Nikolayev couple who are the parents of five children, two of whom are adopted. Shortly before this, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Aleksandr Nikolayev for participation in extremist activities for reading the Bible at a meeting. In July 2021, the case went to trial. Two months later, the believer was sent to a pre-trial detention center, and in December of the same year, the court sentenced the believer to two and a half years in prison. At the time the sentence came into force, Nikolayev had served more than half of his sentence in the detention center. The believer was taken to the penal colony in March 2023 and the next month he asked a court for parole, but was refused. At the end of July 2023, the court of cassation upheld the sentence, lifted the additional restrictions after release. Nikolayev was released from the penal colony in September 2023.
Timeline