Updated: March 28, 2024
Name: Verigin Roman Nikitich
Date of Birth: March 28, 1991
Current status: Defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)

Biography

On July 9, 2020, a wave of searches took place in Vladivostok. One of the victims of law enforcement became Roman Verigin.

He was born in 1991 in Kamenka village (Primorye Region). He grew up in a large family with three younger sisters. In 1996, the family moved to Vladivostok. Since childhood Roman is fond of reading and playing volleyball. He graduated with honours from college with a specialization in construction and operation of buildings and structures. Now Roman works as a locksmith.

At a young age, he was interested in the issues of origin and meaning of life. The young man found convincing answers in the Bible. "Studying the laws of nature, I became convinced of the existence of a reasonable Creator," shares Roman. Christian conviction prompted him in 2010 to seek through the court to replace military service with alternative civilian service.

In 2016, Roman met his future wife, Violetta, an English teacher. In her spare time, she likes to do sports and travel around Russia.

Religious persecution has resulted in financial difficulties for the family: their bank accounts are blocked, their freedom of movement is restricted due to a recognizance agreement, and the believer has to often leave work due to investigative actions. Parents support haen couple and worry about their criminal prosecution.

Case History

In the early morning of July 2018, a group of masked armed security forces invaded the apartment of 90-year-old grandmother Yelena Barmakina, after which Dmitriy wife Yelena was imprisoned in a pre-trial detention center for 447 days. Later, Yelena herself was accused of extremism because of her religion and the family’s bank accounts were blocked. The believer’s case was considered by the Pervorechensky District Court of Vladivostok. In September 2020, the court returned the case to the prosecutor. In August 2021, investigator Tarasenko opened a criminal case against a peaceful believer Yuriy Redozubov and merged Barmakina’s case into one proceeding with the cases against Redozubov, Lonchakov, Katanaeva, Astvatsaturova, Tregub, Tsorn and the Verigin spouses. In June 2022, the case went to court.