Dergacheva Galina

Name: Dergacheva Galina Sergeyevna
Date of Birth: December 16, 1956
Current status: convicted person
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation: 282.2 (2)
Current restrictions: suspended sentence
Sentence: punishment in the form of 3 years of imprisonment, with deprivation of the right to engage in activities related to participation in the work of public religious organizations and associations for a term of 3 years, with restriction of liberty for a term of 10 months, a sentence of imprisonment shall be considered suspended with a probationary period of 3 years

Biography

Galina Dergacheva is one of the believers in Magadan who were prosecuted for their faith. In 2024, the court gave her a 3-year suspended sentence for participating in Christian meetings for worship.

Galina was born in 1956 in the village of Myaundzha (Magadan Region) in a large family. Her parents are ordinary workers. Her childhood was like many Soviet children's: drawing and art reading circles, gymnastics, dancing, theatrical scenes.

In 1972, Galina got a secondary specialized education and worked as a kindergarten teacher. In 1980 she got married and moved to Magadan. In 1986, Galina graduated from the Khabarovsk State Pedagogical Institute. For 40 years she worked at the Magadan Polytechnic College, since 1992 as a teacher. For her good work, Dergacheva was repeatedly awarded certificates of honor and letters of appreciation. Galina is a veteran of labor, she has been retired since 2020. Dergacheva's adult daughter has her own family.

Galina loves to travel, pick berries and spend time with friends and grandchildren. She takes Bible teachings seriously and has lived by them for many years. "I always realized that the Bible is a special book, I wanted to read and understand it," the believer recalls. "When I started studying it, I saw how logical and practical it is. It contains the truth that helps us find the meaning of life, reveals much about our loving Creator and his purpose."

Galina has many relatives in different cities of Russia. They do not share her religious views, but they are sure that she did not commit any crime.

Elderly

Case History

After a series of searches in Magadan in May 2018, Konstantin Petrov, Yevgeniy Zyablov and Sergey Yerkin were placed in a pretrial detention center. On the same day in Khabarovsk, the home of Ivan Puyda was searched. He was arrested and taken 1,600 km to a pretrial detention center in Magadan. The believers spent 2 to 4 months behind bars, and then ended up under house arrest. In March 2019, the FSB conducted another series of searches. The number of defendants in the case has reached 13, including 6 women and elderly. The investigator deemed holding peaceful meetings for worship as organizing, participating in and financing the activity of an extremist organization. In almost 4 years of investigation, the case materials against the 13 believers has grown to 66 volumes. The case went to court in March 2022. At the hearings, it became clear that the case was based on the testimony of a secret witness – an FSB informant who made covert recordings of peaceful meetings for worship. In March 2024, the believers were given suspended sentences ranging from 3 to 7 years, and the court of appeal later upheld this verdict.
Timeline
Back to top