From left to right: Nikolay Zhugin, Pavel Lekontsev, Sergey Logunov, Vladimir Kochnev and Vladislav Kolbanov in the courtroom. July 2023
In Orenburg, An Appellate Court Upholds the Suspended Sentence of Five Believers
Orenburg RegionAccording to the decision of the Orenburg Regional Court, on January 24, 2024, the verdict came into force for five Jehovah's Witnesses—Vladislav Kolbanov, Vladimir Kochnev, Pavel Lekontsev, Nikolay Zhugin, and Sergey Logunov received from 2.5 to 3.5 years suspended for friendly meetings with fellow believers.
The state prosecutor asked the appellate court to uphold the verdict. The believers' lawyer called the accusation's demands unfounded, stressing that in the verdict the court specifically noted: "Actions aimed at inciting hatred and enmity, calls for violence . . . the defendants are not charged."
The believers themselves once again stated that they consider any guilty decision unjust and infringing on their right to freedom of religion. "It is impossible to establish from the appealed verdict on what basis the court refused to consider the actions imputed to me as an exercise of my right to freedom of religion within the framework of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses," Nikolay Zhugin noted in his appeal. Vladimir Kochnev emphasized: "The court did not establish the presence of motives of religious hatred or enmity in my actions. All my actions were completely peaceful."