Father of Child with Disability Given Suspended Sentence for his Faith

On January 20, 2025, Galina Yevsegneyeva, judge of the Urupskiy District Court of the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic, issued a verdict in the case of Aleksey Pasynkov: 6-year suspended sentence. The court considered reading the Bible with fellow believers to be extremist activity.

Aleksey does not agree with the decision and thinks that the court has not cited a single fact proving his guilt. He noted that the panel of experts did not find any signs of extremism in the material presented for their study. Witnesses for the prosecution are either not acquainted with the defendant or testify based on hearsay.

The Investigative Committee for the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic initiated a criminal case against Aleksey Pasynkov in December 2022, but the prosecution of the believer's family began a year earlier, after the first search. Aleksey was placed under a recognizance agreement, and almost a year later his case went to court.

Investigator A. A. Ionov charged him with organizing the activity of an extremist organization. Aleksey said: "In the charges, religious lectures, discussing religious topics, meetings for worship, discussing the Holy Scriptures, maintaining contact with fellow believers are listed as illegal actions imputed to me." He noted that all these actions are not prohibited by law.

The life of the Pasynkovs was not easy anyway. "Our son has a disability, and he needs constant care, as he does not have the ability to care for himself," said Aleksey at the trial. "And this takes a lot of energy from us."

The prosecution for his faith affected not only Aleksey, but also all his close relatives: law enforcement officers also initiated criminal cases against his wife and mother, and the homes of his brothers were searched.