In Birobidzhan, 27-year-old Tatyana Sholner was given a suspended sentence for reading the Bible

On June 25, 2021, the judge of the Birobidzhan District Court, Yulia Tsykina, sentenced 27-year-old Tatyana Sholner to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment under the article "participation in the activities of a banned organization."

The believer was assigned 2 years of probation and another year of restriction of freedom. She cannot leave the city without the permission of the Federal Penitentiary Service and must be registered in it once a month. The prosecutor requested 4 years of imprisonment for her, despite the absence of victims in the case.

The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on her complete innocence.

In her final statement in court, Scholner stated: "Jehovah's Witnesses are known for their kindness and willingness to help others absolutely free of charge. Are these really calls for extremism? My life changed significantly only for the better when I learned how to act according to the Bible. I have real sincere friends who are ready to help, whom I myself am ready to help, without hoping to get something in return, who can rejoice in my successes and sympathize when I need it. I have felt their help more than once in my life, and I still feel it now, when they support me in this difficult period."

Tatyana works in a pharmacy, by profession she is a technician-technologist of sewing production. The case against the believer was initiated on February 6, 2020. For six months, it was led by the investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region, D. Yankin. In his opinion, the girl "resumed the activities of the local religious organization liquidated in 2016 ... as well as the "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" simply because she did not renounce her faith.

On August 19, 2020, the case materials were received by the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region.

The case of Tatiana Sholner is one of 19 cases against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The wave of religious repression in the region began with Operation Doomsday, accompanied by mass searches in the homes of civilians in Birobidzhan.

Russian and foreign human rights activists unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The country's government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually." In February 2021, the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the groundlessness of the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.