Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov in the court, December 2022

Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov in the court, December 2022

Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov in the court, December 2022

Unjust Verdicts

Court of Cassation Confirmed the Prison Terms for Believers from Zeya: 6.5 and 6 Years. Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov Will Continue to Serve Their Sentences in the Penal Colony

Amur Region

On March 19, 2024, the judicial panel of the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok rejected the appeal of Leonid Druzhinin and Yevgeniy Bitusov and confirmed the sentence of the court of first instance: 6.5 and 6 years in a penal colony, respectively.

In their cassation appeals, the believers reminded the court that law enforcement agencies had not established a single fact that they had committed unlawful actions. Also, not a single victim was identified. The defendants' lawyer stressed that "their motive was not extremism, but the intention to exercise the right to practice and spread their faith." The convicted persons are described exclusively in a positive light. Bitusov has a young daughter.

In the Amur Region, 23 of Jehovah's Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution on religious grounds. 13 of them are already serving sentences in the penal colony.

The Case of Druzhinin and Bitusov in Zeya

Case History
In the summer of 2020, the FSB opened a criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses in Zeya, including Yevgeniy Bitusov and Leonid Druzhinin, who were witnesses in the case of their co-religionist Konstantin Moiseyenko. A year later, they were charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The homes of believers were searched twice, in March 2019 and October 2020. Both men have families, and Yevgeniy Bitusov is the father of a minor child. In October 2021, the investigator reclassified the charge as organizing the activities of an extremist organization. In May 2022, the criminal case was sent to court. In December 2022, the court sentenced Bitusov and Druzhinin to 6 and 6.5 years in prison, respectively. The court of appeal and the court of cassation upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Bitusov
Yevgeniy
Druzhinin
Leonid

Criminal case

Region:
Amur Region
Locality:
Zeya
Suspected of:
"by finding places for religious events, providing these places with computer equipment ... knowingly organized weekly religious events" (from the decision to prosecute)
Court case number:
12007100001000038
Initiated:
August 10, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Branch of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Amur Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-96/2022
Court of First Instance:
Зейский районный суд Амурской области
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Ольга Колесова
Case History