Vladimir Fomin
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1.1, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 282.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Imprisonment (general regime)
- Sentence
- 4 years 6 months
- Date of verdict
- 2025-06-23
- Region
- Karachay-Cherkessia
- City
- Cherkessk
- Facility
- ФКУ ИК-8 УФСИН России по Астраханской области
- Address for letters
- 414044 Астраханская область, г. Астрахань ул. Советской Гвардии, д. 50, ФКУ ИК-8 УФСИН России по Астраханской области, Фомин Владимир Геннадьевич, 1979 г.р.
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
A resident of Cherkessk. On February 21, 2024, his home was searched. On March 21, Fomina was detained and on March 23, he was remanded in custody on charges of participating in and involvement in the activities of an extremist organization in connection with his involvement in the Jehovah's Witnesses community. Representatives of this community are persecuted under extremism laws solely for their religious activities: meetings, joint worship services, and recruiting new followers.
On June 23, 2025, the court sentenced him to four and a half years in a general regime colony.
The believer has been classified as having a second-degree disability. The project “Jehovah's Witnesses: The Legal Situation in Russia” reported that at the age of 20, Fomin was attacked by several men on the basis of hatred. The injuries he sustained during the beating led to his disability.
Others charged under Article 282.2 part 1.1, Russian Criminal Code
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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.