Court in Vyselki Gives Yet Another Woman Suspended Sentence for Reading the Bible

On July 4, 2025, Irina Ushakova, 50, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, was given a 2-year suspended sentence. Irina has faced repression previously — at the age of 16 she was forced to leave Tajikistan due to ethnic discrimination. Now she has been convicted for her religious beliefs.

The proceedings against Irina have been ongoing since February 2024. The criminal prosecution, however, has defined the life of her family for more than 3 years: during this time, the home of the Ushakovs was searched twice, and Vitaliy, the head of the family, ended up in a pretrial detention center for 7 months. "I missed his support," Irina recalls. "I had to fight to get permission to visit my husband, and it took courage to approach the authorities." Shortly before those events, she underwent a serious operation and a course of radiotherapy.

The Vyselkovskiy District Court has been considering Irina's case since October 2024. She was accused of "taking part in religious discussions." She explained her position in court as follows: "I do this because it is the command of Jesus Christ, written in the Bible in the Gospels... Jesus wants all his followers to preach, which is what I do."

Irina and her husband Vitaliy are really thankful to all the kind-hearted people who have helped them. Vitaliy said: "We felt their support even in the smallest things: some attended the hearing, some came to the courthouse simply to say kind words. They brought flowers and small gifts to each hearing — all of this strengthened us."

In Vyselki, 15 of Jehovah's Witnesses, both men and women, are being prosecuted on religious grounds.