Unjust Verdicts

The court of cassation finally upheld the sentence to Sergey and Valeria Rayman from Kostroma - 7 and 6.5 years suspended with a probationary period of 2 years

Kostroma Region

On August 9, 2022, a panel of judges of the Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction, chaired by Judge Komarova, upheld the verdict and appeal decision regarding the spouses Rayman, Sergey and Valeria.

Earlier, on October 9, 2020, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma found the believers guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in it and sentenced them to 8 and 7 years of probation. In February 2021, the Kostroma Regional Court mitigated this punishment, and then the cassation sent the case back for re-appeal.

On March 30, 2022, a panel of judges of the Kostroma Regional Court excluded Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation from the verdict, and also recalculated the sentence taking into account the 9 and 6 months of restriction of liberty served by Sergey and Valeria. As a result, the Ryman spouses were given 7 and 6.5 years of probation with a probation period of 2 years.

Based on the results of the cassation, this decision remains in force.

Case of the Raymans in Kostroma

Case History
In July 2018, the life of young spouses Sergey and Valeria Rayman was divided into “before” and “after”. They were accused of extremism under two articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for participating in worship services. The Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Kostroma Region investigated the case for 1.5 years. During this time, the couple survived imprisonment in solitary confinement, a ban on correspondence and reading the Bible, house arrest, and a restriction on communication even with each other. In August 2019, the court began considering their case, but 1.5 months later returned it to the prosecutor for the unfounded accusation. After re-examining the case, the court sentenced Sergey and Valeriya to 8 and 7 years of probation, respectively. In February 2021, the regional court reduced the terms to 3 and 2 years, but the cassation returned the case to the appeal stage. Based on the results of the reconsideration in the regional court, Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was excluded from the verdict and the spouses were given 7 and 6.5 years suspended with a probationary period of 2 years. In August 2022, the cassation court finally approved this decision.
Timeline

Persons in case

Rayman
Sergey
Rayman
Valeriya

Criminal case

Region:
Kostroma Region
Locality:
Kostroma
Suspected of:
according to the investigation they participated in religious services, which is interpreted as organising and participating in the activities of an extremist organisation (with reference to the decision of the Russian Supreme Court on the liquidation of all 396 registered organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses).
Court case number:
11802340011000073
Initiated:
July 24, 2018
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department for the Tsentralniy District of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kostroma Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-322/2019
Court:
Свердловский районный суд г. Костромы
Judge:
Дмитрий Балаев
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Костромской областной суд
Case History