Li Yen Sen

Name: Li Yen Sen
Date of Birth: March 8, 1952
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (1)
Died while under investigation

Biography

In the early morning of May 2020, during searches of believers in Khabarovsk and Vyazemsky, FSB officers invaded the 68-year-old Yen Sen Li, suspecting him of "organizing the activities of an extremist organization."

Yen Sen was born in March 1952 in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur in a large family: he was the middle of 5 children. As a child, he was fond of boxing, had the first sports category. He received a higher technical education as an electrical engineer. He worked as a chief power engineer, later as a chief electrician. He managed to live in different cities: in Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk, Tashkent, Bekabad, Obluchye, Yakutsk. He lived in Lithuania for a while.

In his spare time, he liked to play chess and go for walks.

In 1991 he married Olga, with whom his son Nikolay was born.

Yen Sen became interested in the Bible when he learned what the book had to say about the future. Together with his wife, he was determined to bring life in harmony with Christian values.

The criminal prosecution had a tragic impact on the health of the elderly: when detained, Yen Sen was treated inhumanely, as a result of which his wife Olga lost consciousness and was hospitalized. Doctors diagnosed her with a myocardial infarction. Because of this situation, Yen Sen experienced severe stress, he developed insomnia. He had to work overtime due to the fact that it was necessary to be present often at exhausting interrogations.

In January 2022, Yen Sen Lee died in hospital from COVID-19, never having had time to restore his good name in court.

Case History

Yen Sen Li became a victim of religious repression in May 2020. The old age of the believer did not deter the security forces from displaying inhumane treatment: during the search, the elderly Jehovah’s Witness was hit in the stomach and his arms were twisted behind his back; afterward, he was kept for 13 hours in the FSB Directorate building in the Khabarovsk Territory. On the same day, student Yegor Baranov was detained. The court sent him to a pre-trial detention center, where he was kept for six months. While in detention, Baranov was deprived of the right to send and receive letters. Later on, the court seized Li’s car. In January 2021, the case went to trial. A year later, Yen Sen Li died of covid, never having restored his good name. In April 2022, the prosecutor requested six years in a penal colony for Yegor Baranov. In June 2022, the court gave the believer a five-year suspended sentence, and an appeal reduced this term to four and a half years.
Timeline
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