Court in Kurgan Imposed Large Fine on Sergey Skudaev for Talking About God With Friends

On April 3, 2025, by decision of the Kurgan City Court of the Kurgan Region, Jehovah's Witness Sergey Skudaev, 46, was found guilty of extremism. Judge Yevgeniy Kolesov fined him 650,000 rubles for holding meetings for worship via videoconferencing.

Sergey first encountered prosecution on religious grounds in the summer of 2021. Back then he noticed that he was being followed. On July 13 of the same year, the Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Kurgan Region initiated a criminal case against him under Article 282.2(1) of the RF CrC. The very next day, law enforcement officers searched his apartment, garage and summer house, and then he was detained. By court decision, he was sent to a pretrial detention center for 4 months. Later, he was placed under a ban on certain actions instead.

Sergey says: "When the court decided to send me to a pretrial detention center, I was confused, felt afraid and insecure about the unknown and this sudden change in my circumstances. Life behind bars is a rather serious test of strength, but the most difficult is being separated from your loved ones. In prison, over time, you can adapt to many things, but not having your beloved family and friends next to you — this is really very painful — it is impossible to accept." The believer is grateful for the support from his wife Irina and friends at that difficult time.

The investigation against Sergey Skudaev lasted almost 2 years. On June 13, 2023, his case went to court. The charge was based on the testimony of secret witnesses. Skudaev said after their statement at one of the hearings: "These witnesses are fictional characters, and all of these testimonies were concocted, and those we heard on the conference call were people playacting." Also, at the sessions the judge repeatedly interrupted the defendant during the examination of written evidence, and the prosecution only read out superficially the 23 volumes of the case materials.

To date, in this region eight Jehovah's Witnesses have faced prosecution for their faith in God, two of whom have been given large fines.