On December 8, 2023, the Judicial Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan, during the retrial of the case of Konstantin Sannikov, upheld the initial sentence for the believer — 6.5 years imprisonment. He will remain in the penal colony.
In June 2023, the Court of Appeal lifted the additional restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year, imposed on Sannikov by the district court. The prosecutor appealed this decision in October 2023, and the Sixth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Samara returned Sannikov's case for a second appeal hearing comprising different judges. In court, the believer said, "My imprisonment is religious persecution."
For the period between the cassation appeal and the second appeal, the believer was transferred from the penal colony to the pre-trial detention center.
Konstantin Sannikov has been imprisoned since August 2020. He has already spent 2 years and 9 months in a pretrial detention center and 6 months in a penal colony. His detention had a negative impact on his health, and in the penal colony he lost a lot of weight due to malnutrition. Despite this, the believer maintains a positive attitude and good relationship with those around him.
