Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Svarichevskiy Adam Mikhailovich
Date of Birth: September 20, 1963
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 141 day in a pre-trial detention, 322 day in prison
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 term of 4 years 6 months, with restriction of liberty for a term of 1 year
Currently held in: Penal Colony No. 31 in Primorye Territory
Address for correspondence: Svarichevskiy Adam Mikhailovich, born 1963, IK No. 31 in Primorye Territory, ul. Dzerzhynskogo, 1a, s. Chuguevka, Chuguyevsky District, Primorye Territory, Russia, 692623

Letters of support can be sent by regular mail or through the «zonatelecom».

Parcels and parcels should not be sent because of the limit on their number per year.

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

Biography

In 2019 Adam Svarichevsky's family was subjected to surveillance, a search, and interrogation merely because of their beliefs. The incident seriously affected the health of Adam's wife and two adult sons. His parents, who are Jehovah's Witnesses, survived the Stalinist repressions. Now Adam has been convicted and sent to a penal colony for six years and three months because of his religion.

Adam was born in September 1963 in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. He has two older sisters and a younger brother. The children grew up in a deeply religious family. The parents were exiled to Stalin's camps for many years because of their beliefs.

As a child, Adam learned to play the accordion, bayan, and cymbals. After graduating, he became a tractor driver. He worked as a cement mason and as a slinger, but after an injury in 1987, he was considered disabled and worked as a janitor.

Adam recalls: “When I had to decide between listening to Jehovah God and learning to fight, I chose to refuse military service because of my religious beliefs. I remember how I was pressured in college. The teacher of military lessons told me that I would be sentenced to three years in prison for refusing to serve in the army, the deputy director told me five years, and the director told me seven years. But I did not give in to fear, because I loved Jehovah God and people. I refused to serve in the army, so I was sentenced to three years in a general regime penal colony.”

Throughout his imprisonment, Adam received letters of support from Galina, his future wife. In 1986 they got married and moved from Ukraine to the city of Khabarovsk. Galina was also raised by believing parents who were convicted during the era of Stalin because of their beliefs. As a young woman, she examined evidence of the existence of God and became a believer. Galina is now retired. She enjoys needlework, photography, playing musical instruments, and growing flowers.

The couple raised two sons. Mark became a radio mechanic, and Vyacheslav mastered the professions of finisher and driver. Currently, both sons work in the field of maintaining cleanliness and order on the streets of the city. They like to listen to instrumental music, work with wood, ride bicycles, and repair them. They like the practicality of Bible principles.

Galina's chronic illnesses worsened as a result of the criminal prosecution. After the search, she experienced severe stress and spent a month in the hospital; she had to take medication for a long time. The relatives of the Svarichevskys are outraged that a peaceful person is being persecuted merely for his faith in Jehovah.

Case History

In July 2018, searches were carried out at 7 addresses in Blagoveshchensk as part of a criminal case against local believers. A little over a year later, Obukhov, an investigator of the FSB Directorate for the Amur Region, opened a criminal case against Anton Olshevskiy and Sergey Yermilov on suspicion of participating in extremist activities. In September 2020, Adam Svarichevsky, Sergey Afanasyev and Sergey Kardakov also became defendants in this case (his house was searched). In March 2021, the charges against believers were changed: all five were accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and Afanasyev was also accused of financing it. In September 2021, the case of the believers went to court. A year and two months later, the court found the believers guilty of extremism and sentenced Afanasiyev to 6.5 years, Kardakov to 6 years and 4 months, and Yermilov, Olshevsky and Svarichevsky to 6 years and 3 months in prison. The appeal and cassation upheld the verdict.