Rogozin Valeriy

Name: Rogozin Valeriy Anatoliyevich
Date of Birth: March 25, 1962
Current status: main sentence served
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 398 day in a pre-trial detention, 1482 day in prison
Current restrictions: restriction of freedom
Sentence: Sentence: 6 years and 5 months of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in the work of public religious organizations, for a period of 4 years 6 months, with restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year 3 months
Released: April 7, 2026

Biography

In May 2019, a court sent four peaceful Volgograd citizens behind bars, all the "guilt" of which was to confess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. One of them is a former military pilot, Valeriy Rogozin. The 7.5 months he spent in the pre-trial detention center undermined his health so that he needed long-term treatment.

In September 2021, four civilians were sentenced to real prison terms for their faith in Jehovah God. Valeriy was released in April 2026.

Valeriy was born in 1962 in the city of Krasnokamsk (Perm Territory). As a child, he liked to go camping in the taiga overnight, went in for sports.

After graduating from school, he entered the Kacha Higher Military Aviation School in Volgograd. Thus began a new page in Valeriy's life, which connected him with this city. He served as a military pilot. After 12 years in the army, he worked for many years as a design engineer.

In 1984, Valeriy married Marina, a teacher by profession. The couple raised two sons. In his spare time, Valeriy likes to do landscape design and repair work around the house. In the 1990s, Valeriy discovered the wisdom of the Bible and since then has tried to live up to its high moral standards.

In court, Rogozin emphasized: "I am a law-abiding citizen. I am a peaceful believer who has been practicing his religion for over 20 years. I do it in the way it happens all over the world. I join others in praying to Jehovah God, singing songs of praise to our heavenly Father. I read the Bible and discuss articles based on the Bible with other believers."

Elderly

Case History

In the spring of 2019, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Volgograd. Sergey Melnik, Igor Yehozaryan, Valeriy Rogozin, and Denis Peresunko were charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization; the last two were also charged with financing the activity of an extremist organization. They spent between 5 and 7 months in a pretrial detention center. The lawyers drew the judge’s attention to numerous procedural violations by the investigation. Some witnesses stated that their testimony had been falsified. Secret witnesses were questioned anonymously — according to their own statements, they feared for their life and health. In September 2021, the court sentenced the 4 believers to prison terms ranging from 6 years to 6 years and 5 months. In March 2022, the court of appeal upheld the verdict. In December 2025, Yehozaryan and Melnik were released; in April 2026, Rogozin completed his sentence. The last of the four defendants, Denis Peresunko, was released in June 2026.
Timeline
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