A Khakassia prosecutor requests a record-breaking eight-year prison sentence for Roman Baranovskiy for practicing his faith and a five-year sentence for his mother

On February 1, 2021, during a debate in the Abakan City Court, the prosecutor asked to sentence 46-year-old Roman Baranovsky to 8 years in prison and a year of restricted freedom. For his 69-year-old mother, Valentina Baranovskaya, who suffered a stroke, the prosecutor requested 5 years in prison with the same restriction.

As Valentina Baranovskaya stated during one of the court hearings, the prosecutor voiced accusations of extremism, which consisted in the fact that “Baranovskaya ... decided to participate in the joint confession and dissemination of the Christian faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, namely: to perform religious services, to introduce people with the Holy Scriptures and biblical teachings, principles and norms of the indicated religious teaching. " “Whatever accusations the prosecutor voiced, the key thought is that I have read and still read the Bible and discuss what I have read with others,” said the believer, firmly rejecting allegations of extremist actions and motives.

Roman Baranovsky, in his testimony to the court, also stated that he did not commit extremist actions. Moreover, the knowledge from the Bible helped him to become a more decent citizen - to give up bad habits and learn to get along with people. “For 25 years I tried to be an exemplary citizen of my country, and now the prosecution proposes to declare me an extremist,” Roman Baranovsky said, adding that during the trial “not a single witness, neither the investigation, nor the prosecutor” indicated what kind of crime he committed.

A criminal case under article part 1 art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of a banned organization) against the mother and son of the Baranovskys was initiated on March 21, 2019. Later, the charge of Valentina was softened to part 2 of art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of a liquidated organization). As a crime, believers are charged with the peaceful services of Jehovah's Witnesses, at which they discussed the Bible together with their fellow believers, prayed and sang religious songs, which the investigation interprets as a continuation of the activities of prohibited organizations, although the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited in Russia.

The requested penalty for Roman Baranovsky is the longest since the ban in 2017 of legal entities, organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Prior to that, the record was set by the Pskov prosecutor, who requested 7.5 years for Gennadiy Shpakovskiy, whom the court sentenced to 6.5 years in prison, but the court of appeal replaced the sentence with a suspended sentence.