Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov

Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov

Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov

Unjust Verdicts

Khabarovsk Territory Court Reduced the Fine of One of Two Jehovah's Witnesses Convicted for Their Faith

Khabarovsk Territory

On October 30, 2023, a panel of judges of the Khabarovsk Territory Court upheld the verdict against Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov. The believers will pay fines to the state. Olga — 300,000 rubles, as ruled by the court of first instance, and Sergey — 200,000 rubles, which is 2.5 times less than the amount originally imposed by the court.

Both believers still maintain their innocence and believe that the decisions of the courts violate the laws of the Russian Federation. According to Kazakov and Mirgorodskaya, they were convicted not for real extremism, but "only for practicing beliefs based on the Bible and peacefully practicing their Christian faith as Jehovah's Witnesses."

The defense stated that what was happening "is reminiscent of the totalitarian regime in Soviet times, when Jehovah's Witnesses were exiled to the eastern part of the USSR in special Gulag camps ... The actual purpose of the verdict is to violate the rights of the convicted persons and force them to change their religion or renounce their faith under pain of criminal prosecution."

Guilty verdicts against another 13 residents of the Khabarovsk Territory for their beliefs have already entered into force. Twelve believers were given suspended sentences, and one received a fine.

The Case of Kazakov and Mirgorodskaya in Bikin

Case History
In November 2020, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Sergey Kazakov, a retired firefighter, and Olga Mirgorodskaya, a mother of two. The investigation suspected Sergey of organizing extremist activity, and Olga of participating in it. A month later, the homes of the peaceful believers were searched. Sergey was detained in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where he was caring for his elderly mother who had suffered a stroke. He spent more than 5 months in the pretrial detention center and another 2 months under house arrest. The case has been pending in court since February 2022. At a preliminary hearing, the judge decided to return the case to the prosecutor, but this decision was later overturned. In May, the case of the believers was again sent to court for consideration by the same judges. In August 2023, the court found Olga Mirgorodskaya and Sergey Kazakov guilty and fined them 300,000 and 500,000 rubles, respectively. The court of appeal upheld the verdict, but reduced the amount of the fine for Kazakov to 200,000 rubles.
Timeline

Persons in case

Kazakov
Sergey
Mirgorodskaya
Olga

Criminal case

Region:
Khabarovsk Territory
Locality:
Bikin
Court case number:
12002080008000011
Initiated:
November 9, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Second Department for Investigating Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-52/2022
Court of First Instance:
Bikin City Court of the Khabarovsk Territory
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Denis Dneprovskiy
Case History