Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Komarov Vitaliy Viktorovich
Date of Birth: February 23, 1976
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 3 day in a temporary detention facility, 363 day in a pre-trial detention, 896 day Under house arrest
Current restrictions: Detention center
Sentence: punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 6 years 3 months with serving a sentence in a correctional colony of general regime, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public organizations for a period of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year
Currently held in: Detention Center No. 4 in Moscow
Address for correspondence: Komarov Vitaliy Viktorovich, born 1976, SIZO No. 4 «Medved» in Moscow, ul. Vilyuiskaya, 4, Moscow, Russia, 127081

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the «FSIN-letter system». To pay for service with the card of a foreign bank use Prisonmail.

Note: discussing topics related to criminal prosecution is not allowed in letters; languages other than Russian will not pass.

Biography

Vitaliy Komarov, a native of Moscow, father of two minor children, spent 3 days in an isolation ward and was placed under house arrest. This happened after a raid by security officials against believers in Moscow in November 2020. A criminal case was opened against the 44-year-old man. The investigation considers as organizing extremist activity the fact that in 2019 he came to visit an acquaintance, who is also subject to criminal prosecution.

Vitaliy was born in 1976 in Moscow. His father died in 2006. Mother worked as a nurse, now retired. Vitaliy has a younger brother. As a child, he collected stamps, was engaged in athletics (decathlon) at the Olympic Center named after the Znamensky brothers. After school, Vitaliy graduated from the Sergo Ordzhonikidze State University of Management.

From 1998 to 2006, Vitaliy headed his own company. Then he worked for 5 years as a manager for the development of tourism and recreation in the regions of Russia. Since 2011 he has been working as the head of the department of the Moscow branch of the Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network. In his free time, the man is fond of beekeeping.

In 1999, Vitaliy married Yelena. She is an accountant by education. Recently, Yelena has not worked, focusing on the upbringing of two sons who are schoolchildren.

Because of the criminal prosecution, the Komarovs have problems with sleep, they are tormented by anxiety and fear of repeated searches. Other family members live in fear that they might be accused of extremism after Vitaliy. Relatives and friends worry that children may be left without a father. They are convinced that persecuting Vitaliy is a terrible mistake.

Case History

In November 2020, a large-scale special operation was carried out in Moscow under the sight of television cameras — 22 searches were carried out in the homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Vardan Zakaryan had to be hospitalized due to injuries inflicted by the law enforcement officers. After 3 days, he was placed in detention at the address 38 Petrovka, where Vitaliy Komarov, Yuriy Chernyshev, Ivan Chaykovsky and Sergey Shatalov had been before him. These believers were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization, and Zakaryan was accused of involving others in it. It is noteworthy that in 2010 Ivan Chaykovsky, through the ECHR, obtained compensation for the violation of his rights due to the illegal liquidation of the Moscow community of Jehovah’s Witnesses. All 5 men spent more than 2 years under house arrest. In February 2022, their case went to court. The accusation was based on the testimony of the FSB agent “Makarov”, who feigned an interest in the Bible. In March 2023, the court sentenced Chaykovsky, Komarov, Chernyshev and Shatalov to 6 years and 3 months in a penal colony; Zakarian was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in a penal colony.