Name: Sobyanin Aleksandr Mikhailovich
Date of Birth: June 17, 1973
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility
Sentence: penalty in the form of a fine in the amount of 494,000 rubles

Biography

Aleksandr Sobyanin from the city of Solikamsk faced criminal prosecution for his faith on the eve of his wedding. The beginning of the believer's married life was marked by a search and interrogation.

Aleksandr was born in June 1973 in the city of Krasnovishersk, Perm Territory. His father worked as a driver of heavy road equipment, and his mother worked as a kindergarten teacher. Aleksandr was the eldest child—he has a younger brother and sister.

As a child, Aleksandr was fond of aircraft modeling and wood carving, loved to ride a bicycle and a motorcycle. After school, he worked in a model shop at a paper mill. Recently he worked as a blacksmith on hammers and presses.

At the age of five, Aleksandr was worried about the question: why would every person have to die in the end? Later, he found the answer in the Bible. He was impressed by what he learned and decided to embark on the Christian path in 1992. His parents and younger brother share Aleksandr’s views.

With his first wife, Aleksandr lived in Solikamsk.  They had a daughter together. Her mother died when the girl was only ten years old. In 2020, Aleksandr remarried. His second wife, Mariya, is a nurse, massage therapist and fitness instructor. She loves to sing, dance and train. Mariya shares Aleksandr’s views on life.

In his free time, Aleksandr goes skiing, going to the pool and traveling. Together with his wife, he loves to cook food from different countries, sing karaoke and skate.

Faced with criminal prosecution, the couple experienced stress. They recall: "Our life is no longer stable. For several weeks we could not relax and sleep peacefully. We no longer felt safe in our apartment."

Relatives and work colleagues could not believe that Aleksandr had been charged with extremism. Some offered to speak in his defense. "Reading the Bible is not a crime," said one of the relatives, who does not share the beliefs of Aleksandr and Mariya.

Case History

In July 2020, the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Perm Territory opened a criminal case against Vladimir Poltoradnev, Alexander Sobyanin and Vladimir Timoshkin from Solikamsk. By that time, law enforcement officers had been spying on them for a long time. After searches and interrogations, three believers ended up in a temporary detention facility. Then Sobyanin was released under a ban on certain actions, and Poltoradnev and Timoshkin were placed under house arrest for 2 and 3 months, respectively. Later, the measure of restraint of the latter was also changed to a ban on certain actions. After the investigation was repeatedly suspended and resumed, the case went to court in April 2023. Already in August, the judge found the believers guilty and fined: Alexander Sobyanin for 494 thousand rubles, Vladimir Poltoradnev for 638 thousand rubles and Vladimir Timoshkin for 512 thousand rubles. An appeal in November 2023 upheld the main part of the sentence, slightly mitigating the additional punishment.
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