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Jehovah’s Witness Daler Tokhtaev has been transferred to Correctional Colony No. 1 in Sakhalin region, reported the portal “Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Legal Situation in Russia.”
On 28 February, Poronaysk City Court in Sakhalin region sentenced him to six years in prison on charges of involving others in the activity of an extremist organisation (part 1.1, article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) and participating in such activity (part 2, article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). Prosecutors had requested an eight-year sentence for the believer. On 26 May, the Sakhalin Regional Court upheld the verdict.
In April 2024, Tokhtaev’s home in Poronaysk, a town in Russia’s Far East, was searched, after which he was sent to a pre-trial detention facility, despite having serious health issues. At the time, he was recovering from surgery. The case went to court in October that year.
The charges against Tokhtaev are based on covert video recordings of his conversations with Sergei Rozenblit, who posed as someone interested in the Bible. During questioning, the witness said he was communicating with the believer to get answers to his questions, and that their conversations were friendly in nature. On the recordings that were played in court, the men could be heard discussing work and family issues. “This is not prohibited by law in Russia… The fact that I am on trial now is a big mistake,” Tokhtaev said during the proceedings.