Oleg Shidlovskiy

Name: Shidlovskiy Oleg Grigoriyevich

Date of Birth: February 25, 1969

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, 893 day in a pre-trial detention, 701 day in prison

Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years 6 months of imprisonment with serving in a penal colony of general regime, with deprivation of the right to engage in organizational activities in public and religious associations and organizations, for a period of 5 years, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year

Currently held in: Correctional Colony No. 3 of the Ulyanovsk Region

Address for correspondence: Shidlovskiy Oleg Grigoriyevich, born 1969, Correctional Colony No. 3 of the Ulyanovsk Region, ul. Ostapenko, 22, Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region, 433510

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

Oleg Shidlovskiy is a school physical education teacher from the city of Gukovo. Colleagues at work and neighbors know him as a decent family man and a law-abiding citizen. However, in August 2020, he was arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center only because of his faith in Jehovah God. In September 2022, the court sentenced him to 6.5 years in prison.

Oleg was born in 1969 in the village of Gornyatskiy (Rostov Region). He has a younger brother. Throughout his childhood and youth, Oleg was fond of sports, especially basketball. He studied at a sports school and successfully participated in many competitions and tournaments.

After school, Oleg graduated from the Pedagogical Institute, having received the specialty of a teacher of physical education. Since 1992, he has worked as a teacher at the Gukovo school.

While still a student, Oleg got acquainted with the Holy Scriptures. He liked the simple and straightforward teachings of the Bible and decided to live up to what he learned.

In 1998, Oleg married Nataliya, who shares his love for God and biblical principles. The couple had two daughters.

After the arrest of Oleg, the family was left without a breadwinner. The stress experienced during the search seriously affected Nataliya's health. The couple's parents are depressed because the believer is being unfairly persecuted.

Case History

In August 2020 the security forces conducted searches in the homes of residents of Gukovo. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Aleksey Dyadkin, Vladimir Popov, Yevgeniy Razumov, Aleksey Goreliy, Nikita Moiseyev and Oleg Shidlovskiy. These peaceful believers were accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization. The men’s crime, according to the investigators, is that they “prayed and sang songs to Jehovah God.” Since August 2020 all six have been in pre-trial. As it later became known, an infiltrated FSB agent had been watching the believers for a long time. In November of 2021 the case went to trial. The testimonies of interviewed religious scholars confirmed that these men were tried only for their peaceful religious activities. In September 2022 the court sentenced Goreliy and Shidlovskiy to six-and-a-half years in a general penal colony, while the rest of the believers were sentenced to seven years. In January of 2023 the appeal court approved the verdict, and then six months later the cassational court upheld it.

Timeline