{"id":48729,"date":"2025-09-23T18:04:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T15:04:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/sud-v-mordovii-naznachil-dlitelnye-sroki-lisheniya-svobody-dvum-svidetelyam-iegovy\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T21:25:23","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T18:25:23","slug":"sud-v-mordovii-naznachil-dlitelnye-sroki-lisheniya-svobody-dvum-svidetelyam-iegovy","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/sud-v-mordovii-naznachil-dlitelnye-sroki-lisheniya-svobody-dvum-svidetelyam-iegovy\/","title":{"rendered":"A court in Mordovia sentenced two Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses to long prison terms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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It became known that on September 19, Judge Inna Balyasina of the Proletarsky District Court of Saransk found Ivan Neverov and Mikhail Shevchuk guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) and sentenced Neverov to 7 years in a penal colony and Shevchuk to 6 and a half years. After the verdict was announced, the believers were taken into custody. The information was reported by the website Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses. Legal Situation in Russia<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, in February 2023, searches were carried out at ten addresses of local Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in Saransk. Electronic devices, religious literature, and personal notes were seized from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three believers \u2014 Artyom Velichko, Ivan Neverov, and Mikhail Shevchuk \u2014 were placed in pretrial detention. According to the investigation, knowing that the organization was declared extremist, they \u201ccontinued its ideological and propaganda activities, actively involving new members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three months later, the measure of restraint was softened, and they were placed under house arrest. Another three months later, this was replaced with a ban on certain activities. In October 2024, the case of Artyom Velichko was separated into a separate proceeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikhail Shevchuk is a fourth-generation Jehovah\u2019s Witness. In the 1940s, two of Mikhail\u2019s great-grandfathers were sentenced to long prison terms, their property confiscated, and they were exiled to Siberia. Both were later rehabilitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2022, Mikhail\u2019s younger brother, Aleksandr Shevchuk, and Ivan Neverov\u2019s half-brother, Vladimir Atryakhin, were also sentenced to prison for their faith. Aleksandr was released in November 2023, while Vladimir will remain imprisoned until March 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can write letters to the accused at the following address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RU: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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