Andrei Stupnikov
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Imprisonment (general regime)
- Sentence
- 6 years
- Date of verdict
- 2021-06-02
- Region
- Krasnoyarsk Krai
- City
- Krasnoyarsk
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial Human Rights Centre, 4 June 2021
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
Andrei Stupnikov is a resident of Krasnoyarsk. On 3 July 2018, he was detained at an airport. On 4 July, he was arrested on charges of organising the activities of an extremist organisation in connection with his involvement in the Jehovah’s Witnesses community. Members of this community are prosecuted under extremism-related articles solely for their religious activities, including holding meetings, conducting joint worship services, and attracting new followers.
In February 2019, he was transferred to house arrest. On 2 July, the court released Stupnikov from house arrest and imposed a preventive measure in the form of a ban on certain actions.
On 3 June 2021, he was sentenced to six years in a general-regime penal colony. On 15 December 2025, he was released.
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.