Antyukhin Aleksey

Name: Antyukhin Aleksey Stanislavovich
Date of Birth: May 1, 1976
Current status: defendant
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 142 day in a pre-trial detention
Current restrictions: prohibition of certain actions

Biography

On July 13, 2020, as a result of a large-scale raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in modern Russia - 110 searches in one day in the Voronezh region - Aleksey Antyukhin was sent to the detention center.

Aleksey was born in Shymkent (Kazakhstan) in 1976. He grew up together with his sister. In his youth, he was fond of sport shooting and cross-country skiing. He graduated from the school as an electric and gas welder and from the Moscow University of Steel and Alloys as an engineer.

Before criminal prosecution, he worked as an electric and gas welder. He liked skiing, swimming and construction.

Since 2013 Bible study became an important part of Aleksey's life.

In 2014 he married Natalya, and the spouses moved to Voronezh city. In 2019, they returned to Old Oskol town to take care of Aleksey's elderly mother, who had just become widowed.

After Aleksey’s arrest, his wife and his mother found it difficult to cope with rural life on their own, as he was the only breadwinner and helper in the family. They are very worried about their family member.

Case History

In one day, July 13, 2020, 110 searches were carried out in 7 settlements of the Voronezh Region — a record-breaking operation against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Five believers reported torture by the security forces. Ten men aged 24 to 56 years were charged by the Investigative Committee with organizing extremist activities and sent them to prison, where most of them were held for almost 5 months. The events in Voronezh caused a wide public outcry: the EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, expressed regret and bewilderment in connection with the incident. The believers themselves do not admit guilt in extremism and emphasize that, as Christians, they respect the authorities and peacefully practice their religion in accordance with constitutional law. Consideration of the case in court began in December 2021. Believers face up to 10 years in prison.
Timeline
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