Served Sentences

Saransk resident Aleksandr Shevchuk, one of Jehovah's Witnesses convicted for his faith, was released from the colony

Mordovia

On November 3, 2023, Aleksandr Shevchuk was released from Penal Colony No. 12 in the Republic of Mordovia. For "spreading faith" in Jehovah God, he spent almost 2 years behind bars - 9 months in a pre-trial detention center and 8.5 months in a colony.

Alexander Shevchuk is a descendant of Jehovah's Witnesses exiled to Siberia, who were later rehabilitated as victims of Stalinist repressions. He was detained after searches in February 2019. At the time of the trial, he was released on his own recognizance. Aleksandr served the sentence imposed by the court in correctional colony No. 12 in the Republic of Mordovia.

While serving his sentence, Oleksandr Shevchuk worked in the sewing industry. The administration and the prisoners treated him with respect.

According to Aleksandr himself, he had the opportunity to defend his Bible-based beliefs more than once behind bars. "At first, my cellmates took my position with hostility. But over time, we understood, and we communicated well," Shevchuk said about one of the periods of being under arrest. "Such conversations helped to keep the joy alive. Of course, they are not the only ones. Letters from friends brought special joy. There was something in every letter that was just for me."

According to the lawyer, one of the employees once even said that "this place is not for him."

The rest of the defendants in the case - Georgy and Elena Nikulin, Vladimir Atryakhin, Alexander Korolev and Denis Antonov - are still serving sentences for believing in God in penal colonies.

The Case of Shevchuk and others in Saransk

Case History
In February 2019, in Saransk, the FSB initiated a criminal case against three believers on suspicion of extremism. After mass searches, Vladimir Atryakhin, the father of two young children, as well as Aleksandr Shevchuk and Georgiy Nikulin ended up in a pretrial detention center, where they spent between 2 and 5 months. Later, three more defendants appeared in the case — Aleksandr Korolev, Yelena Nikulina and Denis Antonov. The case went to court in May 2021. The defense managed to show the court several times that the unveiled secret witness Vlasov was giving false testimony. In August 2022, the believers were convicted: Vladimir Atryakhin was sentenced to 6 years, Georgiy and Yelena Nikulin — 4 years and 2 months, and Aleksandr Shevchuk, Aleksandr Korolev and Denis Antonov — 2 years in a penal colony. The court of appeal upheld the verdict. In November 2023, Shevchuk was released from the penal colony, and in June 2024, Korolev and Antonov were released.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Mordovia
Locality:
Saransk
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, they "disseminated ideology and faith among the citizens of the Republic of Mordovia… by conducting convers​ations with citizens of Saransk and other population centers" which is interpreted as "organising the activity of an extremist organisation" (with reference to the decision of the Russian Supreme Court on the liquidation of all 396 registered organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11907890001000003
Initiated:
February 4, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Republic of Mordovia
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)
Court case number:
1-13/2022 (1-216/2021)
Court:
Ленинский районный суд г. Саранска
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Елена Симонова
Case History