Konstantin Sannikov
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Ban on activity, Imprisonment (general regime)
- Sentence
- 6 years 6 months
- Date of verdict
- 2023-02-15
- Region
- Tatarstan
- City
- Kazan
Case summary
Resident of Kazan. On 27 August 2020 he was detained and taken into custody by court order on charges of organising activities of an extremist organisation due to his involvement in the Jehovah's Witnesses community. Representatives of this community are prosecuted under extremist articles solely for religious activities: meetings, joint worship services, attracting new supporters.
The investigator refused Sannikov six times to visit his wife.
On 15 February 2023, Sannikov was sentenced to six and a half years in a general regime colony. In October, the court of cassation instance cancelled the verdict and returned the case for a new examination by the court of appeal instance, but in December the court of appeal instance again left the verdict unchanged.
On 9 April 2025, the court placed Sannikov under administrative supervision until the criminal record is expunged, presumably for eight years (until 10 September 2033).
On 10 September 2025, he was released from the colony.
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.
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