In the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic, the Fifth Verdict Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses Was Announced. Woman, 56, Given Suspended Sentence for her Faith

On January 20, 2025, the verdict against Rimma Popova, a resident of Cherkessk, was announced — 4.5-year suspended sentence. Judge Din-Islam Chotchaev equated talking about God and reading the Bible to extremism. "I suffered a heart attack because of the stress," the defendant said.

The believer faced criminal prosecution in June 2023, when her house was searched. Three months later, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against her. Rimma was interrogated and detained, and then the court placed her under house arrest for 2 months. Due to severe stress, she was hospitalized, and after being discharged, an electronic bracelet was put on her leg to track her whereabouts.

In April 2024, Popova's case was sent to the Cherkessk City Court. The charge was based on the testimony of a woman with whom Rimma discussed the Bible. The believer commented on this as follows: "Was there anything extremist in our conversation with Miroshnik about marriage, during which we talked about how to strengthen it, how to treat each other: it is important for a wife to be assured of love, and for a husband to be respected? That's what's written in the Bible."

Challenging the charge that she "continued to promote the superiority of followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses," Popova noted: "It is strange that the prosecution did not cite a single quote from the notepads, notebooks and notes seized from me, which allegedly contained such propaganda." The prosecutor requested 4.5 years in a penal colony as punishment for her.

Back in 2022, Emily Baran, PhD, an expert on Russia and church-state relations, noted: "Russia continues to treat this religious community [of Jehovah's Witnesses] as dangerous extremists, despite the complete lack of evidence to support this claim." By 2024, 11 Jehovah's Witnesses, including 7 women, had already suffered for their faith in the Karachayevo-Circassian Republic.