Sergey Zhigalov
- 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
- 2025-01-14
- Region
- Occupied territory of Sevastopol
- City
- Sevastopol
- Facility
- ФКУ «ИК № 1 УФСИН России по Ярославской области»
- Address for letters
- 150036, Ярославская область, г. Ярославль, ул. Хлебная д.12, ФКУ «ИК № 1 УФСИН России по Ярославской области», Жигалов Сергей Александрович, 1971 г.р.
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
Resident of Sevastopol. In August 2022, a search took place at his home. He was detained and two days later sent under house arrest on charges of organising activities of an extremist organisation in connection with involvement in the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses community. Representatives of this community are prosecuted under extremist articles solely because of their religious activities - holding meetings and worship services and attracting new supporters. In October 2022, the court replaced Zhigalov's preventive measure with a ban on certain actions. The case was heared in court in March 2023. On 14 January 2025, Zhigalov was sentenced to six years in a general regime penal 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.
OVD-Info has been designated an «extremist» organisation in Russia — by decision of the Russian authorities, like other independent human rights and media projects.