Mikhaylov Dmitriy

Updated: July 26, 2024
Name: Mikhaylov Dmitriy Vasilyevich
Date of Birth: October 25, 1977
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2), 282.3 (1), 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 5 day in a temporary detention facility, 165 day in a pre-trial detention
Sentence: A fine of 560,000 rubles

Biography

Dmitry Mikhailov was born on October 25, 1977 in the village of Kupchanovka (Akmola region, Kazakhstan). He lives in Shuya (Ivanovo region, Russia). He grew up in the family of a doctor - his mother was a dermatologist-venereologist. He studied at the Ivanovo State Power Engineering University with a degree in industrial electronics. He worked as a system administrator, repaired computers, and is also fond of photography and video editing.

Dmitry was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1993 at the age of 16, when he discovered the clarity, harmony and consistency of the Bible, the beauty of knowledge about God. In 2003 he got married, his wife Elena teaches mathematics and physics. Since then, the two of them have devoted a lot of time to improving people's lives through biblical education.

In 2018, Dmitriy and Yelena learned that for several months their phones had been tapped and hidden video was being filmed behind them. On May 29, Dmitriy was detained on absurd charges and placed in a temporary detention facility, and then in a pre-trial detention center. His mother, who did not share her son's religious beliefs, exclaimed when she was arrested: "Instead of persecuting honest people, it would be better to catch criminals!"

The Mikhailovs' neighbors submitted to the court a characterization according to which Dmitry "has established himself as a caring husband and son ... Dmitry is responsive, sociable, polite, responsible, without bad habits ... always has a neat appearance and is ready to help ... takes care of her elderly mother, born in 1939, provides her with medicines and care ... Her only son."

Case History

Wiretapping, deploying a provocateur, hidden video recording in the homes of believers — that is how the prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the town of Shuya began in the spring of 2017. A year later, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against peaceful believer Dmitriy Mikhaylov under three articles for extremism. In 2018, homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses were searched: believers were treated rudely, pressured, and even a 10-year-old girl was interrogated. New defendants appeared in the case: Yelena Mikhaylova, Svetlana Ryzhkova, Svetlana Shishina and Aleksey Arkhipov. Mikhaylov spent 6 months in a pretrial detention center. The case was returned twice to the investigator for revision by the procecutor and by the judge. The consideration of the case on its merits began in May 2022. In January 2024 the court gave its guilty vedict, fining the believers: Arkhipov 380,000, Shishina 400,000, Ryzhkova 480,000, Mikhaylova 560,000, and Dmitriy Mikhaylov 950,000 rubles.
Timeline