Unjust Verdicts

The Cassation Court in Kemerovo Did Not Change the Sentence Imposed on Yevgeniy Korotun From Seversk—Seven Years in Prison for His Religion

Tomsk Region

On March 16, 2023, the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction definitively upheld the conviction of Yevgeniy Korotun, who is one of Jehovah's Witnesses. In January 2022, he was sentenced to seven years in prison, and in May of the same year, this decision was upheld by the  appellate court.

Yevgeniy, a 52-year-old pensioner and father of a young child, has been behind bars for a total of about two and a half years. Now he is serving his sentence in a penal colony in Nizhny Tagil.

“Korotun and his family, along with several other Christian families, peacefully gathered at their home, read the Bible, prayed, and sang religious songs,” stated Yevgeniy’s lawyer. “This became the basis for the criminal prosecution of the believer.”

The European Court in its 7 June 2022 decision  on the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia expresses its position as follows: “The respondent State must take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah's Witnesses, including by reference to the recently amended guidance by the Supreme Court of Russia and release all of Jehovah's Witnesses who have been deprived of their liberty.” (§ 285)

The Case of Korotun in Seversk

Case History
In July 2020, in Seversk, officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB raided Yevgeniy Korotun’s apartment. During a long search, Yevgeniy’s wife and their nine-year-old son were kept in the stairway. A criminal case was initiated against the believer a day earlier. Yevgeniy spent 2 days in a temporary detention facility and 54 days under house arrest, after which he was sent to a pretrial detention center where he spent nearly 2 years. He was charged with organizing the activity of an extremist organization because he held peaceful meetings for worship. The charge was based on covert audio and video recordings made by Yelena Studenova, an officer of the Russian National Guard, and Kira Klisheva. Both women feigned an interest in the Bible. At the end of March 2021, the case went to the city court. In January 2022, the court sentenced the believer to 7 years in prison. The appellate and cassation courts upheld this decision. Yevgeniy Korotun was released in October 2026 after having served his sentence in full.
Timeline

Persons in case

Korotun
Yevgeniy

Criminal case

Region:
Tomsk Region
Locality:
Seversk
Suspected of:
"organized a closed conspiratorial meeting in the form of a collective religious service, consisting of... the sequential singing of songs from a special collection of religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and prayers to Jehovah God, Korotun's talk on measures to protect against coronavirus infection" (from the indictment)
Court case number:
12002690003000070
Initiated:
July 13, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-5/2022 (1-183/2021)
Court:
Seversk City Court of the Tomsk Region
Judge:
Svetlana Chebotareva
Case History
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