Grinenko Evgeny

Name: Grinenko Evgeny Anatolyevich
Date of Birth: October 31, 1970
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 55 day in a pre-trial detention, 213 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership in the work of public religious associations and organizations for a period of 2 years and 10 months, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year, the sentence of imprisonment shall be considered suspended with a probationary period of 5 years

Biography

Yevgeniy Grinenko is one of Jehovah's Witnesses who are persecuted for their faith in Primorye Territory. In May 2020, a criminal case was opened against him, a search was conducted in the house where the believer lives with elderly parents, and he was sent to a pre-trial detention center for 2 months.

Yevgeny was born in October 1970 in the small town of Lesozavodsk, located 350 kilometers north of Vladivostok. He has a younger brother and sister. The father of the family worked as a driver most of his life, now retired. His mother worked as a machine operator in the woodworking industry, and after suffering a stroke she is on disability.

During his school years, Eugene was fond of sawing with a jigsaw and wood burning. Over time, his childhood hobby became a profession: after graduating from the Primorsky College of Forest Technologies, Economics and Transport, he received a degree in mechanical engineering for setting up woodworking equipment.

After serving in the army, Yevgeny returned to his hometown, where he made laminate for cabinet furniture. From 1994 until his arrest, he worked as an operator of wood drying kilns.

Since 1997, Eugene began to get acquainted with the Bible, and after 2 years he embarked on the Christian path.

Yevgeniy loved sports from his youth. His hobbies were basketball and motocross. Now, due to problems with the hip joint, he cannot move much and lead an active lifestyle: fishing, picking mushrooms and relaxing in nature, as before.

The criminal prosecution undermined Yevgeny's health. The IVS did not have the necessary medicines and his condition immediately worsened. After leaving the pre-trial detention center after 2 months, Yevgeniy registered a disability, as he could no longer move without a cane. Due to house arrest, he was left without a job.

Yevgeny's relatives, who do not share his religious convictions, worry about him and wonder why this peaceful man is being persecuted.

Case History

In May 2020, the investigation initiated a criminal case against Yevgeniy Grinenko, a resident of Lesozavodsk. He was accused of organizing the activity of an extremist community. On the same day, the homes of Yevgeniy and three other families were searched, and the believer himself was arrested. Two days later, he was placed in a detention center, where he spent almost 2 months, and then he was transferred to house arrest. Later, new defendants appeared in the case: Svetlana Yefremova, Sergey Kobelev and his mother Galina, whose case was later made into a separate proceeding. In September 2021, the case of Grinenko and the other believers went to court. The case was based on the testimony of an undercover FSB agent, Vladislav Mrachko, who secretly recorded his conversations about the Bible with the believers. In February 2023, the court concluded that the believers were guilty and gave Grinenko and Kobelev a 6-year suspended sentence and Svetlana Yefremova a 3-year suspended sentence. The court of appeal upheld the verdict.
Timeline
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