Viktor Chernov

Viktor Chernov

Viktor Chernov

Unjust Verdicts

In Primorye, One of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 63, Receives Suspended Sentence

Primorye Territory

On 22 May 2026, Judge Marina Sinitsyna of the Nadezhdinskiy District Court sentenced Viktor Chernov to three years suspended for practicing his faith among friends. "All I want is to be allowed to live peacefully with my family in my beloved Primorye Territory, to work and to bring joy and benefit to others," he told the court.

Viktor, 63, has spent the past quarter of a century working in landscape design and has taken part in various programs to green the city of Vladivostok. He suffers from serious health conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease.

During the court hearings, Viktor suffered a heart attack and subsequently underwent heart surgeries. The proceedings resumed in April 2026—Viktor was notified by phone just 20 minutes before the hearing. A month later, the prosecutor requested a sentence of four years in a penal colony.

Viktor's home was searched twice—in 2020 (as part of a case against another believer) and again in 2022. During that period, Viktor lost his wife, with whom he had been married for 28 years and raised a son. After the second search, the believer was detained and placed under house arrest. "For five months I couldn't leave my home," Viktor recalled. "I lost my job, and all my property was seized. The persecution has been going on for a long time; my body is under constant stress, and that affects both my physical and emotional health. I have to fight discouragement."

Despite years of persecution, Viktor has not given up—just like another 63 prisoners of conscience in Primorye Territory. Ten of them are already serving prison terms; 32 have received suspended sentences, and criminal investigations against the rest are still ongoing.

Case of Chernov in Tavrichanka

Case History
In November 2022, while admiring the beauty of the national park “Land of the Leopard” with friends, Viktor Chernov, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses from the village of Tavrichanka, learned that his home was searched. The next day he and his son, who is not one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, were summoned to a neighboring village to be interrogated by the Investigative Committee. There he learned that a criminal case had been initiated against him on charges of extremism. His son was released, but Viktor was detained and placed in a temporary detention center for one day. On the following day, the court placed the believer under house arrest, which lasted until March 2023. Chernov was added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of extremists, and all his accounts were blocked. Due to the restrictions imposed on him, the believer could not pay for medical treatment or visit doctors, so his health deteriorated. In June 2023, the believer was placed under a recognizance agreement. The case went to court in March 2025, the year after Viktor was sentenced to 3 years suspended.
Timeline

Persons in case

Chernov
Viktor

Criminal case

Region:
Primorye Territory
Locality:
Tavrichanka
Suspected of:
"organized the continuation of the activities of a religious association, namely the local religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses, on the territory of the Nadezhdinsky District of the Primorsky Territory" (from the decree on the separation of the criminal case)
Court case number:
12202050015000044
Initiated:
November 16, 2022
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-23/2026 (1-103/2025)
Court of First Instance:
Nadezhdinskiy District Court of Primorye Territory
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Marina Sinitsyna
Case History
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