Updated: March 18, 2024
Name: Savelyev Yuriy Prokopyevich
Date of Birth: January 1, 1954
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 952 day in a pre-trial detention, 761 day in prison
Sentence: punishment in the form of 6 years of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in public and religious organizations for a period of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year, with serving a sentence of imprisonment in a correctional colony of general regime

Biography

In November 2018, mass raids on believers took place in Novosibirsk. Peaceful pensioner Yuriy Savelyev was arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center. He was released only in July 2023, having fully served his sentence.

Yuriy was born in 1954 in the village of Krokhalevka (Novosibirsk region). His mother died when the boy was only a month old, so his older sister played an important role in his upbringing. After school, Yuriy received the profession of a plumber, worked at a metallurgical plant. He was engaged in hardening.

Yuriy had two adult children from his first marriage. Unfortunately, one of them passed away in the fall of 2021, when the believer was behind bars. Yuriy's second wife died suddenly after two days of illness, and this greatly influenced the man. Then, realizing the fallacy of seeking solace in alcohol, he became interested in religion and found that the Bible provides logical answers to his questions. In 1996, he decided to embark on the Christian path.

Although none of Yuriy's relatives share his religious views, they are all outraged by what happened to him.

Case History

Six years in a penal colony—this was the harsh sentence that 66-year-old Yuri Savelyev from the city of Novosibirsk received for his faith. The man was arrested in November 2018 during searches in the homes of believers. He was in pre-trial detention until his sentencing in December 2020. The appellate court, and later the cassation court, upheld the verdict. In May 2021, Yuriy Savelyev was transferred to Penal Colony No. 5 in the city of Rubtsovsk, Altai Territory. In the colony, the administration, with no legitimate basis, tried to force the believer into treatment for alcoholism. On far-fetched grounds, the elderly man spent about nine months in harsh conditions of detention. Yuriy was released in July 2023.