Samvel Babaian
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Imprisonment (general regime)
- Sentence
- 7 years
- Date of verdict
- 2025-10-17
- Region
- Samara Oblast
- City
- Samara
- Facility
- ФКУ «ИК № 10 УФСИН России по Самарской области»
- Address for letters
- 446394, пос. Волжский, ул. Заводская д. 46, Самарская область, Красноярский район, ФКУ «ИК № 10 УФСИН России по Самарской области», Бабаян Самвел Айказович, 1972 г.р.
Case summary
Resident of Samara. On 16 September 2024, he was detained and sent to custody on 18 September on charges of organising activities of an extremist organisation. The reason was Babaian's alleged involvement in the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses community. Representatives of this community are prosecuted under extremist articles solely for religious activities: holding meetings and worship services, and attracting new supporters.
On the day of the arrest, a police officer threatened Babaian's 17-year-old son, according to the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia portal. The teenager, along with his mother, was detained the same day and taken to the local department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs separately from his parents. The police officer stated that the teenager would receive a real sentence in a colony if he did not incriminate his relatives.
On 17 October 2025, Babaian was sentenced to seven years in a general regime colony, despite his serious illnesses.
Others charged under Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
What we write about political persecution
Recent material from this section. This is section navigation — the articles below are not about this person.
- 2026-09-04Georgia court clears extradition of Fugal ally to Russia
- 2026-09-04Russia labels Novaya Gazeta a 'foreign agent,' adds over 100 affiliated names
- 2026-09-04Russian court sentences hostage-takers from Rostov detention center to up to 29 years
- 2026-09-04Two Yabloko Duma candidates detained in Moscow two days before vote
- 2026-09-03British man says Russian police beat him, jumped on his head at station in Yessentuki
Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
OVD-Info has been designated an «extremist» organisation in Russia — by decision of the Russian authorities, like other independent human rights and media projects.