Nikolay Stepanov
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Suspended prison sentence
- Sentence
- 4 years
- Date of verdict
- 2022-09-04
- Region
- Vologda Oblast
- City
- Vologda
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religionby Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, 11 December 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 19 December 2019, he was detained after a search as part of a criminal case on organising activities of an extremist organisation. On 21 December, the court ruled to take Stepanov into custody. 13 August 2020 placed under house arrest. On 25 September, a preventive measure in the form of a prohibition of certain actions was elected.
5 September 2022 sentenced to four years in a general regime colony. On 10 November, the appeal court replaced the prison sentence with a suspended sentence.
Others charged under Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
What we write about political persecution
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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.