New Conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The Court Sent the Man to a Penal Colony for Six Years, and the Woman Was Fined

On April 29, 2025, Yevgeniy Zadvornyy, judge of the Lesosibirsk City Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, issued a decision in the case of Andrey Shiyan and Anna Matveeva: 6 years and 1 month in a penal colony and a fine of 400,000 rubles, respectively. The man was taken into custody in the courtroom.

Andrey and Anna first faced criminal prosecution in November 2021. Then the law enforcement officers raided their homes with searches in a criminal case against another believer from Lesosibirsk, Valeriy Shitz. Later, in January 2023, Artem Kunko, a senior investigator of the Lesosibirsk Investigation Department of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, opened criminal cases against Shiyan and Matveeva. After some time, Shiyan's house was searched again, during which he felt bad. An ambulance was called twice for the believer, and the next day after the interrogation he was taken to the hospital.

Recognizance agreements were taken from Andrey and Anna. The preliminary investigation of their cases was conducted separately, but in December 2023, the court decided to combine them into one process. Shiyan was accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, and Matveeva was accused of participating in it. The woman was charged with discussing the Bible with friends in her own apartment, and the man was charged with reading and commenting on religious texts. The trial lasted for a year. The accusation was based on hidden video recordings of meetings for worship and conversations about the Bible, made by a woman who pretended to be interested in the Bible.

Andrey Shiyan, 55, commented on the charges against him: "It is wrongly put on my accusation that I did not renounce my religion, but continued to practice it with other believers. . . It is not clear to me on the basis of what powers the state prosecutor extrajudicially banned the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses."

Anna Matveeva, 48, is a teacher with many years of experience, who is respected by her colleagues. Speaking at one of the trials, she noted: "They say that I inspired the secret witness with the superiority of Jehovah's Witnesses over other people, but in the materials of the criminal case there are my words that make such accusations groundless: 'We are not better than other people, the same . . . Our task is to live up to high biblical standards". . . I am accused of influencing a secret witness with expressions of love and praise."

In total, 31 Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, including three women. Twelve believers have already been convicted, five men received real sentences of 6 years or more.