Biography
On February 15, 2019, mass searches were carried out in the homes of believers in Surgut. This was followed by beatings and torture of at least 7 believers. Among others, Savely Gargalyk reported torture. What is known about him?
Savely was born in 1960 in the village of Avdarma, Moldavian SSR. He has an older brother and a younger sister. As a child, he was engaged in freestyle wrestling and athletics. He worked as a machine operator, livestock technician, carpenter. Now retired, has a disability. In his spare time, he takes care of the flowers in the garden.
In 1986, Savely moved from Moldova to Surgut and in the same year married Olga, an X-ray technician by profession. The couple love to go to the forest together to pick mushrooms. They have two daughters, the youngest is still in school.
Savely's relatives are well aware of the words of Christ that if they persecuted him, they will persecute his disciples, so they support and encourage Savely as best they can.
Case History
In February 2019, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated a criminal case against 18 men and 1 woman from Surgut (among them was a person mistaken for one of Jehovah’s Witnesses). Their homes were searched. During the interrogations, 7 believers were subjected to violence. Artur Severinchik was sent to a pretrial detention center for 29 days, while Yevgeniy Fedin and Sergey Loginov — for 56 days. Timofey Zhukov was unlawfully placed in a psychiatric hospital for 14 days. The believers filed complaints about the use of torture with the Investigative Committee, the ECHR and the Human Rights Ombudsman; a press conference was held with the participation of human rights activists, but none of the law enforcement officers was brought to justice. In October 2021, the case materials went to court. Two years later, the court gave all of the believers suspended sentences ranging from 4 to 7 years. In February 2025, the court of appeal upheld this decision.
