A “prosecutor” asked for 7 years of penal colony for Serhiy Parfenovych and Yuriy Heraschenko, “Jehovah’s Witnesses” from Krasnogvardeyskoye, for, as he said, “managing the actions of extremist organization.”
“Jehovah’s Witnesses” reported that in their last statements Mr. Parfenovych and Mr. Heraschenko had pointed out groundlessness of charges brought against them.
The next court sessions will be held on July 1, 2024, with “judge” Valentin Shukalskiy.
As reported, in September 2022, the family of Serhiy Parfenovych, the father of six children, was being searched by armed security unit men for 6 hours. After the search Mr. Parfenovych was detained and taken to Simferopol for questioning. He spent 2 days in the temporary holding facility, and one month and a half in the Pre-Trial Detention Center, and then he was transferred to house arrest. The case was processed by “investigator” V. A. Novikov, who also investigated the case of believers from Yalta. He accused Serhiy of managing the actions of an extremist organization.
Within the case the same charges were brought against Yuriy Heraschenko in March 2023. In July 2023, the case was sent to the “court”. The believers were ruled a ban on certain actions, but two weeks later they were again placed under house arrest. In December 2023, Mr. Heraschenko was again ruled a ban on certain actions.
