Court in Teykovo Considered the Common Religious Practice of Jehovah's Witnesses to Be Extremism. Four Believers Were Ordered to Pay Between 600,000 and 1,100,000 Rubles for Their Beliefs

On February 29, 2024, Sergey Kochetkov, judge of the Teykovo District Court of the Ivanovo Region, sentenced Vladimir Spivak, Aleksandr Vasichkin, Sergey Galyamin and Anatoliy Lyamo to large fines for practicing their faith.

None of the convicted persons pleaded guilty. They can appeal the verdict. The state prosecutor requested fines between 700,000 and 1,200,000 rubles be imposed on the men. The court fined the believers slightly less: Vladimir Spivak 600,000, Sergey Galyamin 650,000, Aleksandr Vasichkin and Anatoliy Lyamo 1,100,000 rubles each.

Friends came to the courthouse to support the believers, February 29, 2024.

Vasichkin and Spivak first encountered searches back in 2015; Vladimir and his wife were under surveillance by security forces. Later, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, the homes of the believers were again searched, and a criminal case was initiated. It went to court in January 2023 and was examined for just over a year. Throughout this time, the men were under recognizance agreements.

Two secret witnesses who had attended meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses' several times in the past, testified in court. They explained that they had not heard any calls for violence, religious hatred or overthrow of the government; they also could not confirm the accusations against the believers and admitted they had not been threatened by them. Other witnesses for the prosecution described the defendants positively.

The charges were based, among other things, on the expert study of Tatyana Belova, PhD in Philosophy. She allegedly identified the voice of Sergey Galyamin on one of the recordings and made her conclusions based on this. However, a phonetic expert study conducted by another expert proved that it was not Galyamin's voice.

Despite their own difficulties, the four believers try to support their fellow believers who find themselves in similar circumstances. Aleksandr Vasichkin said: "I try to attend court hearings of other believers. I went to help one of my friends rebuild their house after a fire."

In the Ivanovo Region, 13 Jehovah's Witnesses are currently being prosecuted for their faith in 5 criminal cases.