Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses Were Searched in Izhevsk. One of Them Was Placed Under House Arrest

Udmurtia

On December 14, 2022, in Izhevsk investigative actions were conducted at two addresses where Jehovah's Witnesses live. A criminal case has been opened against two believers, 33-year old Yevgeniy Stefanidin and 49-year old Aleksandr Votyakov.

Representatives of the Investigative Committee invaded the homes of the believers early in the morning. Electronic devices, hard drives, data storage, etc. were confiscated from them.

Lieutenant of Justice Artem Kholmogorov, a senior investigator of the Investigative Committee, charged Yevgeniy Stefanidin and Aleksandr Votyakov with organizing the activity of an extremist organization (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the believers, the investigator considered it a crime to “organize and hold unlawful religious meetings . . . study articles from the book 'New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures' . . . that is, a publication that is part of the worldwide Bible educational activity carried out by Christian Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

The Stefanidins are raising a young child and Yevgeniy has a disability.

The day after the searches, on December 15, the court placed Aleksandr Votyakov under house arrest.

In Udmurtia, already five Jehovah's Witnesses, from Izhevsk and Votkinsk, are defending their innocence in court. In the summer of 2022, the ECHR issued a landmark ruling in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, which noted in particular: “Both the applicants’ religious activities and the content of their publications appear to have been peaceful in line with their professed doctrine of non-violence” (§157).

The Case of Votyakov and Stefanidin in Izhevsk

Case History
In December 2022, searches were carried out at the homes of local believers in Izhevsk. Two men were detained. Aleksandr Votyakov was placed under house arrest, which lasted about 6 months, and Yevgeniy Stefanidin, the father of a young daughter, was placed under a recognizance agreement. The stress he experienced back in April 2021 due to the first search caused health problems, and Stefanidin was classed as having a disability. The Investigative Committee interpreted reading and discussing the Bible with friends and relatives as continuing the activity of a liquidated extremist organization. In August 2023, the believers’ case went to court. In October 2024, the court handed down a 6.5-year suspended sentence to Aleksandr Votyakov and a 6-year suspended sentence to Yevgeniy Stefanidin. The court of appeal replaced these terms with prison terms and sent the believers to a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Stefanidin
Yevgeniy
Votyakov
Aleksandr

Criminal case

Region:
Udmurtia
Locality:
Izhevsk
Suspected of:
"organized the convening and holding of religious meetings... carried out preaching activity."
Court case number:
12202940001008601
Initiated:
December 13, 2022
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Department of Internal Affairs of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Udmurt Republic
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-46/2024 (1-504/2023)
Court of First Instance:
Pervomayskiy District Court of the City of Izhevsk
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Oksana Nazarova
Case History
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