In penal colony

Rustam Diarov

Birth date

August 13, 1973

Citizenship

Russia

Family

Officially registered marriage; Have children

Case

The case of Jehovah's Witnesses in Astrakhan

Article

Part 1, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code; Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code (part unspecified)

Verdict

Eight years in a medium-security prison and an additional one-year restriction of liberty

Rustam Diarov was detained on 9 June 2020 following a search and was taken into custody by court order on 11 June. He faced charges for organising the activities of an extremist organisation due to his involvement with the Jehovah's Witnesses community. This community is prosecuted under extremist legislation solely for religious activities such as meetings, joint worship services, and recruiting new members. Later, Diarov was also charged with financing extremist activities. On 25 October 2021, he was sentenced to eight years in a medium-security prison. On 22 December 2022, the cassation court added a travel restriction to his sentence, banning him from leaving Astrakhan.