A pensioner from Karachay-Cherkessia has been convicted of extremism.

A court in Karachay-Cherkessia sentenced Tatyana Pasynkova to a suspended sentence, finding her to be a member of an extremist organization. The pensioner denied the charges.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in August 2024, security forces in Karachay-Cherkessia conducted searches at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses* Tatyana Pasynkova, Maria Ogoreva, and her daughter Svetlana Ogoreva. Searches were also conducted in Stavropol at the home of Alexei Pasynkov. In September, a court sentenced Yulia Pasynkova to five years' probation on charges of participating in an extremist organization. In January, her husband, Alexei Pasynkov, received a suspended sentence of six years. Tatyana Pasynkova (Yulia Pasynkova's mother-in-law) was charged similarly. The prosecution was based on the believers' participation in collective worship services.

The Khabez District Court of Karachay-Cherkessia sentenced 60-year-old pensioner Tatyana Pasynkova to a four-year suspended sentence, according to a website covering the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses* in Russia. "Following her son Alexei and his wife Yulia, Tatyana was convicted for her religious beliefs," the publication states.

According to the decision to open a criminal case, investigators believe that Tatyana Pasynkova "acting within the framework of her participation in the activities of a religious organization... remotely, using technical means, participated in individual classes, meetings—collective religious services."

Have the fundamental principles become outdated or suddenly become radical and extremist?

In her final statement, Tatyana Pasynkova denied the charges. "Have fundamental [biblical] principles really become outdated or have they suddenly become radical and extremist? All life is based on them! They are the norms of goodness," she is quoted as saying in the publication.

The woman reported that her home was searched five times. One of the searches involved eight armed, masked men. That day, Tatyana Pasynkova became ill and had to call an ambulance. According to her, she suffers from serious heart problems, and the stress associated with the persecution has had a negative impact on her health.

As a reminder, on October 7, the Zelenchuk District Court sentenced 41-year-old Svetlana Ogoreva to a suspended three-year prison sentence, deeming her attendance at religious services and discussions of faith as participation in the activities of an extremist organization. In her appeal to the judge, Svetlana Ogoreva called her criminal prosecution "unjust and illegal" and categorically rejected the charge of extremism. The investigation into the criminal case against her mother, Maria Ogoreva, is still ongoing.

In October 2021, the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that individual or collective religious practice, religious rites, and ceremonies should not in themselves be considered the activity of an extremist organization unless they contain elements of extremism. However, in practice, state prosecutors ignore this decision, noted Yaroslav Sivulsky, a lawyer for believers in Neftekumsk and a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Earlier, in October 2020, a court in Kabardino-Balkaria acquitted local Jehovah's Witness* Yuri Zalipaev, who was accused of inciting extremism. In September 2021, the court awarded him 500,000 rubles in compensation, and the prosecutor apologized to the believer for the criminal prosecution. Acquittals for Jehovah's Witnesses* are rare in the Russian judicial system, Yaroslav Sivulsky commented on the court's decision at the time.

On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia, following a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice, declared the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia* and its 395 branches extremist organizations, banning their activities. The "Caucasian Knot" covers the consequences of this ban on its thematic page "Ministry of Justice vs. Jehovah's Witnesses*".

* 396 Russian Jehovah's Witness organizations have been designated as extremist, and their activities in Russia have been banned by court order.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.