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Sergei Gobozev, a Jehovah’s Witness from Votkinsk, a city in the Udmurt Republic, has been transferred to Correctional Colony No. 5 in Kirov Region. This was reported by the ‘Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial’ project.
In December 2024, Gobozev’s sentence was toughened: instead of a fine, he was given six years’ imprisonment. The believer was taken into custody in the courtroom and placed in detention.
In March 2024, Gobozev and the second defendant in the case, Mikhail Potapov, were convicted under the article on organising the activities of an extremist organisation (Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). Gobozev and Potapov were fined 450,000 and 400,000 roubles (approximately US$5,100 and US$4,500) respectively. The sentence was then upheld on appeal, but the cassation court ruled to return the case to the appellate court; previously, the prosecutor had challenged the decisions of the first and appellate courts as excessively lenient. Potapov also had his sentence toughened, being given six years’ imprisonment.
The case against Gobozev and Potapov was opened on 20 January 2021. The following day, security forces raided seven homes of believers in Votkinsk, as well as the workplaces of several of them. After the searches, the defendants were detained. Gobozev was sent to a pre-trial detention centre, while Potapov was placed under house arrest due to health issues. On 18 May 2021, the men had their pre-trial restrictions changed to a ban on certain actions. In September of the same year, the case was sent to court, which examined it for two and a half years.
During the investigation into the case against Gobozev and Potapov, FSB officers questioned representatives of various religious denominations, including a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, a Lutheran pastor, and the chairperson of the local Orthodox Jewish community. According to the FSB, those interviewed concluded that Jehovah’s Witnesses “reject the traditional and ethno-cultural values of the peoples of the Russian Federation.”
You can support the believer by sending them a letter via our ‘Vestochka’ service or by regular post to the address:
613040, Kirov Region, Kirovo-Chepetsk, 16 Ovraghnaya St., Federal State Institution IK-5, Russian Federal Penitentiary Service for Kirov Region
Sergei Borisovich Gobozev, born 1957