Andrei Bannykh
Andrei Bannykh, born 1964, Sverdlovsk Oblast. Charges: Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Organization of the activities of an extremist organization); “The case of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Sverdlovsk region”. Sentence (November 25, 2024): 6 years' suspended imprisonment. Status: at large. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religion.
In brief
Sverdlovsk Oblast · NULL · Religious figures · Extremism cases, Cases against Jehovah's Witnesses
Sentence
6 years
suspended imprisonment
Upheld March 24, 2025
Charges
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Organization of the activities of an extremist organization
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation team, "through videoconferences..... carried out religious services, public study and discussion of literature, video recordings and illustrations"
Latest event
March 24, 2025 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religion — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· Imprisonment begins
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 6 years
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Persecution begins
The case of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Sverdlovsk region
Criminal case
The case of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Sverdlovsk region
Other defendants in the case
- Andriy Kozhushko — At large, 6 years
- Pavel Loschinin — At large, 6 years
Details and sources
Full summary
Resident of the Sverdlovsk region. Was one of the applicants in a collective complaint by Russian Jehovah's Witnesses to the ECHR. On June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights declared the ban on organisations of believers and the ensuing persecution of believers unlawful. The Russian authorities are prosecuting members of this community under extremist articles solely for religious activities - meetings, collective worship, and attracting new supporters. On April 14, 2023, Bannykh's home was searched, he was interrogated and later charged with participation in the activities of an extremist organisation. On November 25, 2024, Bannykh was sentenced to a six-year suspended sentence.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.