Maksim Khamatshin and his spouse, Adelina, April, 2025

Maksim Khamatshin and his spouse, Adelina, April, 2025

Maksim Khamatshin and his spouse, Adelina, April, 2025

Unjust Verdicts

Six Years in Penal Colony for One of Jehovah's Witnesses in Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk Region

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

In his final plea, Khamatshin said that "knowledge from the Bible helped [him] find the meaning of life and gave him hope for the future." "Is giving people hope, cheering people up, comforting people a crime? 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 became an accused. The Investigative Committee of the Chelyabinsk Region opened a criminal case against him for organizing the activities 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 all the things were scattered on the floor, and the investigator and the operatives trampled everything with 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 Khamatshins with friends on the day of one of the hearings

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

The authorities of the Chelyabinsk Region continue to persecute Jehovah's Witnesses and send them to jail. Due to the actions of investigator Aleksandr Chepenko, at least 15 Jehovah's Witnesses suffered: 4 women and 11 men.

Case of Khamatshin in Chelyabinsk

Case History
In September 2022, Maksim Khamatshin’s house was searched as part of the case of his fellow believer Yevgeniy Bushev. In June 2023, Maksim himself became a defendant in a criminal case for believing in God. A month later, investigator Chepenko, who has at least a dozen criminal cases against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Chelyabinsk, placed Khamatshin under his recognizance agreement. At the end of the year, the believer was included in the Rosfinmonitoring list. In May 2024, the criminal case went to court. The charge is based on video and audio recordings of meetings of the FSB informant with Jehovah’s Witnesses. The prosecutor asked the court to send Khamatshin to a colony for 7 years. In April 2025, the sentence was passed—6 years in a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Khamatshin
Maksim

Criminal case

Region:
Chelyabinsk Region
Locality:
Chelyabinsk
Suspected of:
"took deliberate active actions of an organizational nature aimed at continuing the illegal activities of a banned religious organization" (from the indictment)
Court case number:
12302750030000176
Initiated:
June 29, 2023
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-32/2025 (1-395/2024)
Court of First Instance:
Sovetskiy District Court of the City of Chelyabinsk
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Yulianna Visokikh
Case History
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