Russian court commutes Jehovah Witness’ sentence

Admin l Thursday, June 24, 2021

 

MOSCOW, Russia –  The Krasnodar Territorial Court in Russia has upheld the conviction of one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mr. Aleksandr Shcherbina. The court however commuted his original three-year prison sentence to two years.

On April 6, 2021, the Abinskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory convicted Aleksandr Shcherbina and sentenced him to three years in prison. He was thereafter taken into custody from the courtroom. Aleksandr will however appeal the verdict.

Born 1976  in Kholmskaya, Krasnodar Territory, Shcherbina  is an orphan  who worked as a truck driver, a car mechanic, and a carpenter.

He enjoyed playing basketball and soccer. In his early 20’s, he studied the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses and got baptized in 1999.

Russian authorities in the Krasnodar Territory searched his home twice, in April and December 2020. On both occasions, Aleksandr was interrogated and his Bibles and electronic devices were confiscated. The Holy Bible and other publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses are banned in Russia and regarded as extremist publication.

His trial began in March 17, 2021, at the Abinskiy District Court.

“Effectively, I am being accused of believing in God and remaining one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, that is to say, for exercising my rights as guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. My religious views are based on the Bible, and for that very reason, they are the exact opposite of what is called extremism”,  Shcherbina said in court.