The Supreme Court in Crimea Overturned the Verdict of Four Jehovah's Witnesses. The Men Were Released From the Pre-trial Detention Center, but the Trial Will Start Again

On March 22, 2024, the Supreme Court of Crimea overturned the verdict against Taras Kuzo, Petr Zhiltsov, Sergey Lyulin and Darya Kuzo, the wife of Taras. The men were released from the detention center, their preventive measure was changed to a ban on certain actions; the preventive measure for Darya remained the same – a recoginizance agreement. The case was sent for a new trial by different judges.

Earlier, the Yalta City Court sentenced Taras Kuzo to 6 years and 6 months, Petr Zhiltsov to 6 years and 1 month, and Sergey Lyulin to 6 years in a penal colony. Darya Kuzo received a 3-year suspended sentence. The verdict was appealed. In the appeal, the defense emphasized that there was no evidence that the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses were extremist in nature. Practicing this religion is not prohibited in the Russian Federation.

Addressing the court before the appeal decision, Darya Kuzo told what her family had to endure during the persecution: "My young children survived three terrible searches carried out by armed men; on November 14, 2023 my husband's mother suffered cardiac arrest due to [stress], we were added to the list of Rosfinmonitoring as extremists, and all our bank accounts were blocked..."

Taras and Darya Kuzo with their children. March 2024

"The case, contains only vague terminology about extremism – something that is absolutely alien to us. We have never shown hatred or enmity towards people. Jehovah's Witnesses are known throughout the world as peaceful people. We are tried only because we live and believe as taught by the Greatest Teacher, Jesus Christ. I have been one of Jehovah's Witnesses for 23 years now, I have been living by God's highest moral standards as set forth in the Bible, and I have seen how the application of these principles has made our family strong and happy for 15 years already. It's been almost a year since my children and I were separated [from Taras], this is very painful for us. I really want our children to grow up in a complete family as mentally and emotionally stable people," Darya summed up, asking the court to make a fair decision.

To date, 30 Jehovah's Witnesses in Crimea are being prosecuted solely for their religious beliefs; 9 of them are already serving sentences – from 6 to 6.5 years – in penal colonies.