Unjust Verdicts

An Appeal in the City of Nizhny Novgorod Upheld the Six-Year Suspended Sentence Imposed on Gevorg Gevorkyan, One of Jehovah's Witnesses

Nizhegorod Region

On March 21, 2023, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court dismissed Gevorg Gevorkyan's appeal against the verdict of the court of first instance, which found him guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and gave him a six-year suspended sentence.

Addressing the Court of Appeal in his final statement, Gevorkyan noted that the criminal prosecution ruined his health and had a negative impact on his wife's health. In addition, according to the believer, the “humiliating search accompanied by verbal and physical insults” carried out at his workplace tarnished his reputation in the eyes of his colleagues. Gevorg expressed his feelings in the following words: “Does a person deserve all this, a person whose so-called fault consists only of believing in God not merely in words but also in deeds, striving, not for enmity, but for peace?”

In the summer of 2019, Gevorg Gevorkyan and his family experienced two searches in one day and interrogations that lasted many hours. According to the believer, an audio recording device was installed in his home. Nizhny Novgorod law enforcement officers accused Gevorg of conducting joint religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses, which served as the basis for his prosecution.

On January 17, 2022, the Avtozavodsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod found Gevorg Gevorkyan guilty of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The prosecutor then requested that he serve eight years in a penal colony, but the court gave him a suspended sentence. With the decision of the appellate court, the verdict came into force, but the believer still insists on his innocence and has the right to appeal the decision in the cassation court.

Initially, the criminal case against Gevorg Gevorkyan was separated from the case of Sergey Malyanov and others. It is still at the trial stage. Guilty verdicts have already been handed down in the Nizhny Novgorod region against eight of Jehovah's Witnesses. Not one of the criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses provided a single piece of evidence that the believers' actions undermined the foundations of the constitutional order, destroyed marriages, or caused any other harm to the state or the individual.

Gevorkyan case in Nizhny Novgorod

Case History
In the summer of 2019, Gevorg Gevorgyan, a resident of Nizhny Novgorod, was searched and interrogated and was named as a witness in the case of Malyanov and four other believers. After 2.5 years, his criminal case was separated into a separate proceeding. Gevorkyan was accused of extremism only because of his religion. In August 2021, he was placed on recognizance not to leave. In December 2021, the case went to court. At the first court hearing, the lawyer found a new document arbitrarily added to the case file. The judge returned the case to the prosecutor. In July 2022, a retrial of the case by another judge began. In January 2023, he sentenced Gevorgyan to 6 years probation. The appellate court upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Nizhegorod Region
Locality:
Nizhny Novgorod
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, he conducted a collective religious service containing an interpretation of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses
Court case number:
42101220089000653
Initiated:
November 12, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Department of Internal Affairs of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Nizhny Novgorod Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-17/2023 (1-490/2022)
Court:
Автозаводский районный суд г. Нижний Новгород
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Максим Сироткин
Case History