A district court in Kaltan, in Russia’s Kemerovo region, sentenced 55-year-old Jehovah’s Witness Vitaly Syrykh to six years in a general-regime penal colony on charges of organizing the activities of an extremist organization.
The court convicted him under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code.
In addition to the six-year prison term, Syrykh was barred from organizational activity in public and religious associations for five years. He was also sentenced to one year of restricted freedom following his release.
Investigators alleged that Syrykh acted as an organizer of a local Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Kaltan.
Syrykh’s criminal prosecution began in 2021. At the time, he was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization, placed under house arrest and later released under travel restrictions. That case was closed in September 2022.
In December 2024, Syrykh was charged again, this time with organizing the activities of an extremist organization. The case reached court in August 2025.
In 2017, Russia’s Supreme Court designated the Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center extremist and ordered the liquidation of legal entities affiliated with it.
The Memorial political prisoners support project and the SOVA Research Center consider the prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses for continuing their religious activities unlawful. That assessment represents the position of the rights groups.