Court in Chelyabinsk Sentenced One of Jehovah's Witnesses to 6 Years in Penal Colony

On April 3, 2025, Yulianna Vysokikh, judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of Chelyabinsk, issued a guilty verdict in the case of one of Jehovah's Witnesses, 28-year-old Maksim Khamatshin — 6 years in a penal colony. The believer was taken into custody in the courtroom. He maintains his innocence and intends to appeal this decision.

In his final statement, Khamatshin said that "knowledge from the Bible helped [him] find the purpose of life and gave him hope for the future." "Is it a crime to give people hope, raise their spirits and comfort them? Is it against the law to help people give up bad habits and become happy?" the believer asked rhetorically.

In September 2022, Maksim's house was searched as part of the case of his fellow believer, Yevgeniy Bushev, and in June 2023, he himself was charged. The Investigative Committee of the Chelyabinsk Region initiated a criminal case against him for organizing the activity of an extremist organization. The believer told how friends supported his family during that difficult time: "They helped us so much! For example, after the search, since everything was scattered on the floor, and the investigator and the officers had trampled over it in their shoes, they helped us restore the broken window, wash all the things, and also clean the apartment."

The Khamatshins with friends on the day of one of the hearings

The court hearings in the Khamatshin case lasted about a year. The charge was based on video and audio recordings of a witness for the prosecution, who since 2018 had been providing information to the FSB. At the hearing, he could not prove that the defendant had committed anything illegal. The prosecutor requested 7 years in a penal colony for Khamatshin.

The authorities of the Chelyabinsk Region continue to prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses and put them behind bars. Due to the actions of investigator Aleksandr Chepenko, at least 15 Jehovah's Witnesses have suffered: 4 women and 11 men.