Court in Maykop Sentenced Inver Siyukhov to 6 Years in a Penal Colony for Talking About Jehovah God

On March 7, 2024, Bella Stash, judge of the Maykop City Court of the Republic of Adygea, sentenced one of Jehovah's Witnesses — Inver Siyukhov, 49, — to 6 years in a penal colony. The court equated exercising the right to practice one's religion with organizing the activity of an extremist organization.

In addition, the court deprived the believer of the right to engage in educational activity and any activity related to leading and participating in religious public associations and organizations for a period of four years, and also imposed restriction of liberty for a period of one year after serving the main sentence.

Inver Siyukhov became a defendant in a criminal case in April 2021, when the local department of the Investigative Committee suspected him of organizing the activity of an extremist organization for discussing the Bible and Christian teachings with others, including via messaging apps. At the same time, a series of searches in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in Adygea; Inver ended up behind bars.

At one of the court hearings, Inver Siyukhov commented on his detention: "For the almost three-year period of my stay [behind bars] (by the day he was sentenced on, he had spent 2 years and 10 months in a pretrial detention center — ed.) I have never been reprimanded or warned. On the contrary, I was held up as an example to other cellmates." According to Siyukhov, letters became a special support for him; his cellmates were surprised that encouraging words came even from complete strangers.

The trial of Inver Siyukhov has been going on since October 2021. "It is evident from the indictment that I am facing imprisonment only because I simply exercised my right to practice a religion," Inver said in court before the verdict was announced.

The prosecutor asked the court to send the believer to a penal colony for 9 years. The prosecution relied on the opinion of the expert R. V. Levinsky, who, as it turned out, did not have the necessary qualification to conduct a psycholinguistic expert study. At one of the hearings, Inver Siyukhov stated: "I believe that the preliminary investigation agencies incorrectly and arbitrarily interpret the decision of the Supreme Court liquidating legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses. And their misinterpretation, and not the crime I allegedly committed, is the reason why I am in the dock today." This opinion regarding the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for religious activities is shared by human rights activists and the worldwide community.

In the Reoublic of Adygea, this is the third guilty verdict against Jehovah's Witnesses.