Sharapova Nataliya

Name: Sharapova Nataliya Vladimirovna
Date of Birth: November 19, 1972
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 740 day in a pre-trial detention
Current restrictions: restriction of freedom
Sentence: 2 years and 11 months of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony, with restriction of liberty for 6 months

Biography

In the fall of 2022, Natalya Sharapova was searched, detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center. She was accused of extremism for no other reason than her beliefs.

Natalya was born in 1972 in the city of Novy Uzen (Kazakhstan). She has an older brother and a younger sister. As a child, Natalya studied music. Now, in her free time, Natalya likes to make topiary (mini-trees placed in a pot as decoration) and beaded jewelry, and she likes to knit.

After graduating from school, Natalya started working in a stockroom at a garment factory. Later, after being laid off at the factory, she worked as manicurist.

Natalya learned the Bible through her mother. Studying the prophecies written in the Holy Scriptures and the fact that they are fulfilled in the smallest detail touched her heart the most. In 2012, Natalya decided to become a Christian.

Natalya has lived in Kazakhstan and in the Primorsky and the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia. She has two daughters. The older one is an engineer-geophysicist, and the younger one is a nurse. They do not share Natalya's religious views, but they understand and respect her beliefs.

Despite the fact that Natalya has health problems, law enforcement officers imprisoned her. Her relatives actively support her and take care of her financially. Although she is a peaceful believer, they had to hire a lawyer for her.

Case History

In October 2022, law enforcement officers conducted searches at 12 addresses of believers in the village of Yaroslavskiy in Primorye. The Investigative Committee initiated a case against Anatoliy Li and unidentified persons under the article for involving others in the activity of an extremist organization. Later, the charge was reclassified as organizing and participating in such activity. As part of this case, Anatoliy Li and two other believers, Boris Andreyev and Nataliya Sharapova, ended up in a pretrial detention center. The charges were based on video recordings of meetings for worship in which the believers discussed the Bible, sang religious songs and prayed. The case went to court in September 2023. After 9 months, the believers received sentences ranging from 3 to 6.5 years in a penal colony. In September 2024, the court of appeal reduced the sentences of Li and Sharapova by 1 month.The next day, Nataliya was released.
Timeline