One of Jehovah's Witnesses Aleksey Miretskiy, Convicted of Faith, Is Released From Penal Colony in Orenburg

On August 3, 2021, Aleksey Miretskiy was released. He became the last of Jehovah's Witnesses convicted in 2019 to serve their entire sentence in a penal colony for their religious beliefs. The believer was met by his wife Yulia.

In September 2019, Ph.D. Aleksey Miretskiy was convicted under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of extremist activities). The court considered it a crime to read the Bible, sing songs and prayers. The believer spent a total of 1 year, 10 months and 16 days behind bars. After his release, his freedom will be limited for another year; in addition, he is deprived of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for 5 years.

Like other believers who ended up in Correctional Colony No. 1 in the Orenburg Region, Aleksey Miretskiy was severely beaten by the employees of the institution. After that, the believer's health worsened, and even the question of surgical intervention arose. The difficulties did not end there. Aleksey suffered a viral disease in the colony. Using his right, Miretskiy filed a petition to replace the unserved part of the punishment with a fine, but instead received an unjustified penalty.

While in the colony, Aleksey worked for a long time on a grueling schedule — 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, he worked in the sewing industry. Despite stress, hard work and difficult living conditions, he took an active part in various sports and cultural events, in particular in table tennis and football tournaments.

According to the believer's lawyer, Aleksey behaved in an exemplary manner in the colony and was on good terms with other prisoners. Even before the verdict, the believer declared to the court: “My surname 'Miretskiy' contains the word 'peace'. I live on Mir Street. Peacefulness is an integral part of my personality ... At work, I have always tried to reconcile the warring parties and find compromises between the parties to various conflicts. My name is Miretskiy, and I am not an extremist. "

“By his behavior, Aleksey proved the truthfulness of the words spoken in court that he is in fact alien to criminal intentions and deeds. Because of the biased interpretation of the law on extremism, people are deprived of their freedom for years, but they are not deprived of either human dignity, or faith, or, with all this, Christian respect for state power. Aleksey went to prison as a respectable citizen and got out of it the same way,”said Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

In May 2021, the court sentenced another Saratov believer, Rustam Seidkuliyev, to 2.5 years in prison for talking about the Bible. The believer is awaiting an appeal.

In March 2020, 33 states issued a joint statement urging the Russian authorities to stop bullying Jehovah's Witnesses. The Memorial Human Rights Center considers Jehovah's Witnesses political prisoners and demands an end to the persecution associated with their religious affiliation.