The Court in Teykovo Considered the Usual Religious Practice of Jehovah's Witnesses to Be Extremism. Four Believers Were Ordered to Pay the State From 600,000 to 1,100,000 Rubles for Their Beliefs

On February 29, 2024, the judge of the Teikovo District Court of the Ivanovo Region, Sergey Kochetkov, sentenced Vladimir Spivak, Aleksandr Vasichkin, Sergey Galyamin and Anatoliy Lyamo to large fines for their religion.

None of the convicts pleaded guilty. They can appeal the verdict. The state prosecutor asked to impose fines from 700,000 to 1,200,000 rubles on the men. The court fined the believers slightly less: Vladimir Spivak 600,000, Sergey Galyamin 650,000, Aleksandr Vasichkin and Anatoliy Lyamo 1,100,000 rubles each.

Friends came to the courthouse to support believers, February 29, 2024.

Vasichkin and Spivak first encountered searches back in 2015, Vladimir and his wife were under surveillance by security forces. Later, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, believers were again searched, and a criminal case was initiated. In January 2023, it went to court, where it was investigated for just over a year. All this time, the men were under recognizance agreement.

Two secret witnesses who had attended Jehovah's Witnesses' services several times in the past testified in court. They explained that they had not heard any calls for violence, religious hatred or overthrow of the government, and could not confirm the accusations against the believers and admitted that they had not received threats from them. Other prosecution witnesses gave positive characterizations to the defendants.

The accusation was based, among other things, on the examination of the candidate of philosophical sciences Tatyana Belova. She allegedly identified the voice of Sergey Galyamin on one of the recordings and based on this she drew her conclusions. However, a phonetic examination conducted by another expert proved that this voice did not belong to Galyamin.

Despite their own difficulties, four believers try to support their fellow believers who find themselves in similar circumstances. Aleksandr Vasichkin said: "I try to go to court hearings with other fellow believers. I went to help one of my friends rebuild the house after the fire."

In the Ivanovo region, 13 Jehovah's Witnesses are currently being persecuted for their faith in 5 criminal cases.