Nikolay Polevodov
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 282.2 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Suspended prison sentence
- Sentence
- 7 years 6 months
- Date of verdict
- 2020-02-03
- Region
- Khabarovsk Krai
- City
- Khabarovsk
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, 27 June 2024
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, 27 June 2024
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
Khabarovsk resident. He was detained as a result of a raid on a cafe in Khabarovsk on 10 November 2018. On 12 November, he was taken into custody by court order on charges of organizing activities of an extremist organization in connection with involvement in the Jehovah's Witnesses community. Representatives of this community are prosecuted under extremist laws solely for religious activities: meetings, joint worship services, and attracting new supporters.
On 14 January 2019, Polevodov was moved to house arrest. In July, he was released on his own recognizance. On 3 August 2020, the case was returned to the prosecutor's office. On 20 June 2024, Polevodov was sentenced to eight and a half years in a general regime colony. On 10 October 2024, the court of appeals reduced the term by a year and replaced the real sentence with a conditional one.
In May 2019, he was also accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. On 4 February 2020, Polevodov was sentenced to two years conditional sentence.
Others charged under Article 282.2 part 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.