Trifonov Igor

Name: Trifonov Igor Petrovich
Date of Birth: October 19, 1969
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years 6 months of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for a period of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year, punishment in the form of imprisonment shall be considered conditional with a probationary period of 3 years 8 months

Biography

On February 15, 2019, one of the most massive and inhuman operations against believers took place in Surgut and several other cities of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. More than 20 people were involved in criminal cases, 7 people reported torture, 3 people were in custody for a long time, at least one was dismissed from work - Igor Trifonov. What do we know about him?

Igor was born in 1969 in the village of Serebryansky, Murmansk region. He has a younger brother. Since childhood, he was fond of sports and electrical engineering. When Igor was 6 years old, his family moved to Belarus, near Mogilev. Later, Igor moved to Russian Surgut as an adult. After college, he received the profession of a mechanic. At first he worked as a driver and metalworker, but then he worked as a firefighter for 22 years in a row. He received only positive references at work, until everything suddenly changed in February 2019 - it turned out that because of his religious views and the criminal case opened, Igor could no longer work in the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Igor has been a committed Christian and Bible student for over twenty years. Since 1997 he has been married to Olga. Friends know her as a caring mother and housewife, she bakes delicious pancakes. After losing his job, it became more difficult for Igor to take care of three minor children, one of whom is an infant.

For two weeks after the search and interrogation, Olga was in a state of shock, constantly crying. Igor draws comfort from the Bible: "Jesus was also persecuted. And for what? For the truth? He didn't do anything wrong either."

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.
Timeline
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