Court in Sakhalin Sends Believer, 34, to Penal Colony.

The Poronaysk City Court sentenced Daler Tokhtaev to 6 years imprisonment. Judge Yuliya Sheveleva considered the conversations about the Bible as participating in the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it. The decision was announced on February 28, 2025.

A year earlier, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Tokhtaev. Two months later, he was detained and taken to a pretrial detention center in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 300 km from home. He was forbidden to see his wife or even talk with her on the phone. Daler was held in custody until the verdict was passed, despite health problems: when he was placed in the pretrial detention center, he was recovering from surgery.

The case went to court in October 2024. The charge was based on covert video recordings of Daler's conversations with Sergey Rozenblit, who feigned interest in the Bible. During his interrogation, it was revealed that he had turned to Tokhtaev for answers to his personal questions; their conversations were like those between friends. Recordings presented in court showed them discussing the Bible, as well as work and family issues. "The law in Russia does not prohibited this... Me being in the dock now is a huge mistake," Tokhtaev said.

In the Sakhalin Region, 10 people have faced criminal prosecution for their faith; 6 of them have already been given suspended sentences by the courts.