Konstantin Samsonov
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 282.3 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Fine
- Date of verdict
- 2022-04-18
- Region
- Stavropol Krai
- City
- Neftekumsk
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial Human Rights Centre, 8 January 2020
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
On 7 December 2018, a criminal case was initiated in Neftekumsk, Stavropol Krai, under part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organisation of activity of an extremist organisation). On 9 December, at least eight searches of Jehovah's Witnesses were conducted in the city as part of the investigation. Three people - Alexander Akopov, Konstantin Samsonov and Shamil Sultanov - were arrested, one more person was declared wanted.
On 5 December 2019, Samsonov was released from custody and a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions was chosen.
In June 2020, it became known that Samsonov was also accused of raising funds for the needs of an extremist organisation.
On 19 April 2022, he was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment in a general regime colony. On 5 August, the court of appeal replaced the term with a fine of one million 400 thousand rubles, obliging, taking into account the time served, to pay 400 thousand.
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.