In Prokopyevsk, Yelena Chernykh, One of Jehovah's Witnesses, Was Given a 3-year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith. Earlier, the Same Court Had Convicted Her Husband

Yelena Chernykh, a 47-year-old Jehovah's Witness from Prokopyevsk, was found guilty of extremism for continuing to practice her faith. The verdict was passed on April 12, 2024 by Yelena Karamova, judge of the Tsentralniy District Court of Prokopyevsk, who gave the believer a 3-year suspended sentence.

In 2020, the home of Yelena and her husband Yuriy, parents of three, one of whom is a minor, was searched. Then they were interrogated as witnesses in the case of Andrey Vlasov (who is serving time in a penal colony for his faith). The Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region initiated a criminal case against Yelena under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. The investigation and the court considered the practice common for all Jehovah's Witnesses in the world of jointly discussing the Bible and Christian teachings as "participating in the activity of a banned religious organization." According to the investigation, Yelena's actions posed a threat to the state and society, incited interreligious discord, although during the trial not a single fact of a real crime or evidence of intention to commit it was presented.

Speaking in court, in her final statement, Yelena Chernykh said: "I have been a believer for 30 years. For all these years, I have never had any malicious intent, let alone any actions aimed at undermining the constitutional order or security of the Russian Federation."

In September 2023, based on similar charges, the court sentenced Yelena's husband to 3 years of forced labor.

In the Kemerovo Region, 18 Jehovah's Witnesses are being prosecuted for their faith. Two of them are serving sentences in a penal colony for their faith.