Name: Malkov Viktor Ivanovich
Date of Birth: February 21, 1959
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (1)
Time spent in prison: 1 day in a temporary detention facility, 243 day in a pre-trial detention, 86 day Under house arrest
Died while under investigation

Biography

On April 26, 2019, arrests of citizens for religious views resumed in Smolensk, the total number of detainees reached 5. One of them was Viktor Malkov.

Viktor was born in 1959 in Smolensk. As a child, he was actively involved in football, played in the team of the plant. He mastered several working specialties: locksmith, carpenter, roofer. Before his arrest, he worked as a driver. He loved to work in the country and pick mushrooms. In 1992, Victor married Vera, whom he met at work.

Before getting acquainted with the Bible, Victor knew the ups and downs. He had been in prison for seven years for a fight, and his marriage was on the verge of divorce. But faith in God helped him become a new man. Victor became a peaceful and law-abiding citizen, and his marriage could be called exemplary. When they came to arrest Victor, he said: "I served seven years for a fight, became a believer, and now you want to imprison me for preaching the good news for almost the same period?"

On April 26, 2020, Viktor Malkov died suddenly. The stresses of the criminal prosecution worsened his already poor health.

Victor's relatives knew him as a sympathetic person. All his life, Victor helped his brother, a visually impaired person of the first group. For many years he also supported his mother, who needs help due to age and poor health.

Case History

In April 2019, Jehovah’s Witnesses from Smolensk—Ruslan Korolev, Valery Shalev, and Viktor Malkov—were sent to jail. The day before, searches were carried out in their homes. Yevgeny Deshko was detained in Dagomys (Krasnodar Territory) as the fourth suspect in this criminal case. The believers spent 4 to 8 months in jail and another 3 to 7 months under house arrest. Due to the stress and conditions of detention in the pre-trial detention center, Viktor’s heart problems worsened, and he died without waiting for the trial. The criminal case under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation was investigated by the FSB of Russia in the Smolensk Region. In the Industrial District Court of Smolensk, the prosecutor asked Judge Marina Masalskaya to send Shalev and Deshko to jail for 8 years, and Korolev for 9 years for discussing Christian teachings. In April 2021, a judge found them guilty, but sentenced them to suspended imprisonment ranging from 6 to 6.5 years. In August 2021, the Court of Appeal approved the punishment for the believers. The cassation court upheld the decisions of the lower courts.
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