Biography
In November 2021, law enforcement officers conducted the first search in the house of Andrey Shiyan, a customs clearance specialist, in search of biblical literature. In 2025, the believer was sentenced to 6 years and 1 month in a penal colony because of his beliefs.
Andrey was born in September 1969 in the city of Lesosibirsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory) in a family of engineers. He has a sister who is 4 years younger than him and shares his religious views.
As a child, Andrey was involved in athletics, and also studied at an art school. In the late 1980s, he served in the army, In 1993 he graduated from the Lesosibirsk branch of the Siberian Technological Institute. There, the young man was the captain of the team of humor.
Andrey worked in trade, was an operator at a rosin plant and an engineer in the sales department of a timber processing plant. For 27 years, he was engaged in customs clearance. In his free time, Andrey traveled and wrote poetry.
At the institute, Andrey met Inna, who was a junior student. In 1992 they got married. After graduating from the university, she worked as a salesperson, and when her daughter was born, she was engaged in her upbringing. Now the girl is already married. The daughter is a creative person—she is fond of needlework, knitting and drawing.
Inna's mother was the first in the family to become Jehovah's Witness. In 2001, her daughter joined her. In the same year, Andrey attended a meeting for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses for the first time. He developed confidence in the Bible. He was especially touched by the doctrine of the creation of the world. In 2002, he embarked on the Christian path, and 4 years later his and Inna's daughter decided to become Jehovah's Witness.
In his final plea in court, Andrey said: "I do not understand why the government of the Russian Federation, represented by the state prosecutor, set the goal of destroying my family and my fellow believers."