Name: Yavushkin Sergey Nikolayevich
Date of Birth: August 4, 1960
Current status: who has served the main sentence
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.3 (1), 282.2 (2)
Time spent in prison: 2 day in a temporary detention facility, 699 day Under house arrest
Sentence: punishment in the form of 4 years of imprisonment with restriction of the service for a term of 1 year; The main punishment in the form of imprisonment is considered suspended with a probationary period of 4 years

Biography

On July 18, 2019, a new criminal case was opened in the Kemerovo region against peaceful believers. One of them, Sergey Yavushkin, was then under house arrest. Because of this, he lost his job and did not see his children and grandchildren for almost 2 years. The court considered the criminal case for more than a year, and in June 2021 sentenced Yavushkin to 4 years of suspended imprisonment for believing in Jehovah God.

Sergey was born in 1960 in the city of Rubtsovsk (Altai Territory). Both parents are no longer alive. He has an older sister. As a child, he was actively involved in sports, played the guitar. After graduating from school, he received a secondary technical education related to foundry. Later he received the profession of an electric and gas welder, in which he has been working for more than a decade.

In 1990, Sergey married Tatyana, who works as a midwife in the Department of Pregnancy Pathology. The couple raised a son, Alexander, and a daughter, Maria, who already have their own families.

For many years, Sergey lived in his native Rubtsovsk, but in 2008, for health reasons, he was forced to move to Kemerovo with his family.

When Sergey was about 30 years old, he got acquainted with the Bible and was very impressed by the practicality and relevance of its advice despite its antiquity. Oddly enough, because of his Christian views, Sergey found himself in court as an accused. His large family, consisting of several generations, warmly supports him in the new difficult situation, and Sergey's employer personally called the investigator and asked to let him go to work. According to the employer, Sergey is the best locksmith of the enterprise and is very much needed in the workplace.

The criminal prosecution had a strong impact on the health of both spouses. Sergey ended up in the hospital, where the tracking bracelet on his leg made it difficult for doctors to work. The investigator was hardly persuaded to allow the electronic bracelet to be removed in order to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of the patient. Sergey was treated in the department for stroke patients. His wife was also forced to undergo treatment due to stress.

Speaking with his last word in court, Sergey Yavushkin noted: "My work experience in the profession of an electric and gas welder is more than 35 years, and the total length of my work at state-owned enterprises is 40 years. I could still work in the same place, if not for the arrest and forced dismissal from my place of work.

Case History

In January 2018, mass searches were carried out in the homes of civilians in Kemerovo. A year and a half later, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Sergei Yavushkin and Alexander Bondarchuk. They were accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and financing it, the reason for which was the conversations of men with people about God and meetings with fellow believers. The believers were sent to a temporary detention facility for 2 days, and then under house arrest, where they spent 700 days each. As a result, Sergey and Alexander lost their jobs. Their property was seized. While in the temporary detention facility, Sergey was subjected to psychological pressure and ended up in the hospital with a stroke. In April 2020, the case went to court. The accusation was mainly based on the testimony of a witness who kept a secret record of worship. In June 2021, the court sentenced the believers to 4 years of probation. The appeal and cassation upheld the verdict. In September 2023, Sergey Yavushkin received parole.