Sergey Kobelev, Yevgeniy Grinenko and Svetlana Yefremova at the courthouse. February 2023

Sergey Kobelev, Yevgeniy Grinenko and Svetlana Yefremova at the courthouse. February 2023

Sergey Kobelev, Yevgeniy Grinenko and Svetlana Yefremova at the courthouse. February 2023

Unjust Verdicts

The Court of Appeal in Primorye Territory Upheld the Verdict Against Three Believers From Lesozavodsk

Primorye Territory

On June 14, 2023, the Primorskiy Territorial Court, chaired by Judge Svetlana Ustimenko, upheld the verdict against Yevgeniy Grinenko, Sergey Kobelev and Svetlana Yefremova for their faith – a 6-year suspended sentence for the men and 3 years of probation for the elderly woman.

In February 2022, the Lesozavodskiy District Court found three local residents guilty of extremism for talking about the Bible and attending peaceful religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses. The convicted persons have appealed the verdict. According to the defense, the believers did not commit any real crime, the court only proved that they belong to the denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is not prohibited by any law.

“I did not deny that I was one of Jehovah's Witness, nor that I met with friends, discussed the Bible and sang religious songs,” Yevgeniy Grinenko emphasized in the appeal. “At the same time, the court of first instance did not substantiate in the verdict why the peaceful way of expressing faith in God was regarded by the court as a way of committing a crime.”

Svetlana Yefremova expressed her position as follows: “In sentencing me for carrying out, allegedly, extremist activities… the court actually punished me for practicing religion in the way common for Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Sergey Kobelev stated: “Under such circumstances, my criminal prosecution and the guilty verdict cannot pursue any legitimate aim.”

The head of the Center for the studies of problems of Religion and Society at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Political Sciences Roman Lunkin, assessed the long-term campaign of repressions against believers in the following way: "As sad as it is, the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses is based on a rather primitive, even mundane logic: they are simply disliked by a section of society that often knows nothing about [their] doctrine and practice, and for law enforcement agencies, searches, arrests and liquidation of organizations is an opportunity... to pretend they are fighting for the security of the state.”

The case of Grinenko and Others in Lesozavodsk

Case History
In May 2020, the investigation initiated a criminal case against Yevgeniy Grinenko, a resident of Lesozavodsk. He was accused of organizing the activity of an extremist community. On the same day, the homes of Yevgeniy and three other families were searched, and the believer himself was arrested. Two days later, he was placed in a detention center, where he spent almost 2 months, and then he was transferred to house arrest. Later, new defendants appeared in the case: Svetlana Yefremova, Sergey Kobelev and his mother Galina, whose case was later made into a separate proceeding. In September 2021, the case of Grinenko and the other believers went to court. The case was based on the testimony of an undercover FSB agent, Vladislav Mrachko, who secretly recorded his conversations about the Bible with the believers. In February 2023, the court concluded that the believers were guilty and gave Grinenko and Kobelev a 6-year suspended sentence and Svetlana Yefremova a 3-year suspended sentence. The court of appeal upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Grinenko
Evgeny
Kobelev
Sergey
Yefremova
Svetlana

Criminal case

Region:
Primorye Territory
Locality:
Lesozavodsk
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, "assisted E. A. Grinenko in organizing meetings of the LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in Lesozavodsk, acted as a coordinator."
Court case number:
12002050013000022
Initiated:
May 12, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department for the town of Lesozavodsk of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorye Territory
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-35/2022 (1-316/2021)
Court of First Instance:
Lesozavodskiy District Court, Primorskiy Territory
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Sergey Yarovenko
Case History
Back to top