In Amur Region, 78-Year-Old Vasiliy Reznichenko Was Given a Two-Year Suspended Sentence for Meetings with Fellow Believers

On June 2, 2021 judge of Zeya district court of Amur region Oksana Brylyova sentenced Vasiliy Reznichenko to 2-year imprisonment conditionally with an 8-month probationary period for "participation in the activity of extremist association" - this is how the court interpreted the religious belonging of the resident of Zeya.

The court imposed exactly the punishment recommended by the state prosecutor. The verdict has not come into force and can be appealed. The believer insisted on his complete innocence.

Vasiliy Reznichenko worked for a long time as a captain of a motor ship, for which he received the title "veteran of labour of the USSR". In 2016 he lost his wife, and for the last two years, a criminal case for extremism has been under investigation against him. The elderly man has been searched and interrogated, and his movement is restricted by his recognizance not to leave. All of this has weakened his health. In November 2019, he was put on the Rosfinmonitoring's list of terrorists and extremists, which caused all of his bank accounts to be blocked.

It all started on March 21, 2019, when law enforcement officers came to the pensioner's home with a search. They seized his laptop, phone, personal records and photos. The criminal case was initiated on March 11, 2019.

The case of Vasiliy Reznichenko was investigated for a year and a half by V. S. Obukhov, investigator of the Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Amur region. On September 11, 2020, the case went to the Zeya District Court of the Amur region. By the beginning of the debate, the case contained nine volumes.

The court heard transcripts of worship meetings held in 2018. The believer's accusation was based on two prayers and several thoughts on a biblical topic expressed in a circle of fellow believers. This is interpreted by law enforcement officials as a security threat to Russian society and the state.

Addressing the court with his last word, Vasiliy Reznichenko expressed bewilderment: "The FSB officers consider me a dangerous criminal, while I am trying to understand what is so dangerous and terrible against the state or people I have committed? Why am I being treated this way? I asked this question to the FSB officers, but I did not receive a comprehensible answer. In the court hearing, listening to the testimony of witnesses and experts, I also tried to understand what my guilt was, what I had to do or not to do so that I wasn't considered a criminal. But I never got an answer to my question. [...]

A total of 5 criminal cases were opened in the Amur region, 4 of which are being investigated by V. S. Obukhov. Another Jehovah's Witness, Konstantin Moiseenko, is on trial in Zeya.

Back in 2018, the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights of the Russian Federation gave an unambiguous description of the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses: "The charges brought against believers in all cases are based on the allegation that a group of believers held a worship service. Accusations of citizens reading the Bible together and praying to God are interpreted as "continuing the activities of an extremist organization. The Council believes that such an interpretation is inconsistent with the legal position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. There is a contradiction between the stated position of the Government of the Russian Federation and law enforcement practice. This cannot but cause concern, since criminal prosecutions and arrests have become systemic in nature.