Six Jehovah's Witnesses sentenced in Russia after entrapment by alleged bereaved informant
Six members of Jehovah's Witnesses received prison terms in Russia after an FSB informant, posing as a grieving woman, provided evidence against them.
In Russia, six Jehovah's Witnesses have been sentenced after an FSB informant, who pretended to be a bereaved individual seeking spiritual comfort, supplied the prosecution with recordings. Zaur Murtuzov and Darya Petrochenko each received five-year terms in a penal colony, while four other women were handed compulsory-labour sentences ranging up to four years. The group, outlawed as an extremist organization in 2017, has had that ban declared unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights and condemned by the U.N. Human Rights Committee.
According to a New York-based spokesperson, the informant joined the believers in 2022 after finding a “There is Hope” card in a cemetery and spent two years secretly documenting their meetings. Before sentencing, Petrochenko asserted her innocence and maintained her faith in people. The organization reports that 174 of its members, predominantly men, are currently incarcerated in Russia.
Why it matters
The case highlights ongoing repression of religious minorities in Russia and the use of covert informants to secure extremist convictions.
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