Unjust Verdicts

Vladimir Skachidub's Verdict of Four-Years-and-Two Months in Prison for Believing in Jehovah God Was Upheld Despite an Appeal Filed in Krasnodar

Krasnodar Territory

On April 20, 2022, the Krasnodar Regional Court upheld the sentence of Vladimir Skachidub, a 60-year-old Jehovah's Witness from the village of Kholmskaya. The believer will have to spend more than 4 years behind bars.

On October 11, 2021, the judge of the Pavlovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, Olga Marchenko, convicted Vladimir Skachidub under two extremist articles, finding him guilty of participation in the activities of a banned organization and involvement in it. Since then, Vladimir, a group III disabled person, has been kept in a pre-trial detention center. According to the investigation and the court, his fault lies in the fact that he shared his beliefs with acquaintances and did not renounce them when the legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses were liquidated in 2017.

The verdict has entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.

In total, 16 criminal cases were initiated in the Krasnodar Territory against 25 believers. 12 of them have already been convicted and received real prison terms. The most severe punishment - 7.5 years in prison - was received by a resident of the village of Kholmskaya Aleksandr Ivshin.

The Case of Skachidub in Pavlovskaya

Case History
In April 2020, law enforcement officers searched the home and interrogated Vladimir Skachidub and his wife, who is disabled. Two months later, a criminal case was initiated against the believer from Pavlovskaya under two parts of Article 282.2 of the RF CrC. An FSB investigator for the Krasnodar Territory, deemed it a crime that Vladimir Skachidub “filled the role of a preacher” by talking with others about the Bible. The court has been considering the Skachidub case since December 2020. In October 2021, the disabled believer was sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in a penal colony. Six months later, the Court of Appeal upheld this decision. Vladimir served his sentence in penal colony No. 6 in the Ryazan Region, 1200 km from home. He was released in September 2025.
Timeline

Persons in case

Skachidub
Vladimir

Criminal case

Region:
Krasnodar Territory
Locality:
Pavlovskaya
Suspected of:
According to investigators, he "participated... in a religious educational event — a teaching lesson, filling the role of a preacher... spread the ideology of the LRO Jehovah's Witnesses"
Court case number:
12007030001000071
Initiated:
June 23, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1.1)
Court case number:
1-36/2021 (1-170/2020)
Court:
Pavlovskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory
Judge:
Olga Marchenko
Case History
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