Search
Alam Aliyev, a Jehovah’s Witness from Birobidzhan, a city in Russia’s Far East, is regularly placed in a punishment cell. This was reported by a portal that monitors the persecution of members of this faith.
The believer is being held under strict conditions. He is troubled by high blood pressure, chest pain, weakness, as well as stomach pain after meals, headaches, and a burning sensation in his feet. In the punishment cell, Aliyev does not have access to drinking water and can only receive hot water according to a set schedule.
In 2023, Aliyev was placed in isolation despite being in a pre-infarction state. The believer suffers from serious health conditions—hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes, and spinal problems. In 2024, the Jehovah’s Witness was again sent to a punishment cell. At that time, it was also reported that the convicted man in isolation had no access to drinking water, did not receive medical help, and was not given pain relief.
The verdict for Aliyev and other defendants in the case was delivered in December 2022. Aliyev, Valery Kriger, and Sergey Shulyarenko were found guilty of organising the activities of an extremist organisation (Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). Dmitry Zagulin was also convicted under the article on financing “extremist activities” (Part 1, Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code), and Kriger and Shulyarenko received this additional charge as well. Aliyev was sentenced to six and a half years in a penal colony, Kriger and Shulyarenko to seven years, and Zagulin to three and a half years. Everyone except the latter was also given one year of restrictions on freedom and banned from leading public organisations for four and a half years. In June that same year, an appeals court reduced Kriger’s and Shulyarenko’s sentences by three months, but upheld the sentences for the others. In March 2024, the sentences for all the defendants were confirmed in cassation. In July 2023, the believers were transferred to Penal Colony No. 8 in Blagoveshchensk, a city in the Russian Far East.
According to law enforcement, whose account was supported by the court, Kriger, Shulyarenko and Aliyev organised Jehovah’s Witnesses religious meetings in Birobidzhan, knowing that the organisation was banned. Additionally, Kriger, Shulyarenko and Zagulin made donations totalling more than 401,000 roubles (about US$4,500). The defence argued that the court did not prove that these funds were spent on “extremist activity” and did not specify the time, place, mode of collection, receipt, storage or use of the money.
The case against the four believers was launched in May 2018. Prior to sentencing, all of them were under a travel ban.