Another Guilty Verdict Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Ivanovo Region. Andrey Okhapkin Fined 540,000 Rubles for Peacefully Practicing His Faith

A year and a half of hearings in the case of Andrey Okhapkin in the Kineshma City Court ended with a guilty verdict. On August 13, 2024, the believer was heavily fined for organizing extremist activitiy — by this the investigation meant talking about the Bible, singing religious songs and praying.

Okhapkin does not admit his guilt. In his final statement, he stated: "I don't need to resort to illegal actions to practice my religion. Neither it nor the ways in which it is practiced are prohibited by Russian law or the courts." Andrey continued: "My God... demands that his worshipers show love, mercy, peacefulness, kindness, respect to all people regardless of their nationality, religion and social status. What extremism can we talk about?!"

In November 2021, FSB senior investigator R.A. Drozdov initiated a criminal case against Andrey Okhapkin. A few days later, officers from Drozdov's department, under his leadership, searched the believer's home. Okhapkin was sent to a pretrial detention center for 3 months, then he was placed under house arrest for 5 months.

As a result of this, Andrey, a physics teacher at a college, lost his job — his family lost their main source of income. Prior to his arrest, he suffered a severe bout of COVID-19 and did not manage to fully recover. Andrey spent the first three weeks in the pretrial detention center in a punishment cell. In the cell where he was later transferred, the lights were on day and night. At first, he was not allowed to see his wife and daughter, but he could write them letters. During his stay in the pre-trial detention center, he received more than 400 letters of support from friends and family.

Okhapkin's case went to court in December 2022, it was considered by Judge Yevgeniy Krotov. The charge was based on the testimony of expert Belova, who earlier in a video interview expressed her dislike for the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. In her conclusion, she attributed phrases to the believer that he did not say. Furthermore, at the trial it turned out that the protocol of the interrogation of one of the witnesses contained testimony that he had not given.

In total, 13 Jehovah's Witnesses are being prosecuted for their beliefs in the Ivanovo Region. Most of them have already been convicted.