A Jehovah's Witness* from Gukovo has been released from prison.

Vladimir Popov, 59, has been released after spending nearly six years in prison on extremism charges. One of the six convicted Jehovah's Witnesses* from Gukovo remains in prison.

As reported by Kavkazsky Knot, on May 20, it was reported that Nikita Moiseyev and Yevgeny Razumov, who spent nearly six years in prison on extremism charges, were released from prison. Vladimir Popov and Aleksey Dyadkin remained in the penal colony.

On May 22, Vladimir Popov, a 59-year-old Jehovah's Witness, was released from a prison colony in Dimitrovgrad. A long-awaited reunion with his wife and friends took place at the prison gates, a website covering the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses* in Russia reported today.

"We lived together for 35 years and were not only married but also close friends. We always talked a lot, discussed everything together, shared our feelings and experiences. With his arrest, all of this suddenly stopped. For about three years, while Vova was in pretrial detention, we only saw each other in court," said Vladimir's wife, Irina.

"The hardest part of prison was waiting, but prayer and hope helped," Vladimir said after his release. Physically, it was also difficult: at times, the cell was constantly noisy, making it impossible to get enough sleep. This caused problems for his body, including blood pressure surges, dizziness, and back and joint pain. Moreover, the believer waited nearly two years for dental treatment, which he received only shortly before his release.

In the penal colony, Vladimir worked in a garment factory: first as a packer, later as a sewing machine adjuster. The administration recognized his work several times with awards and certificates.

According to Popov's wife, the guards spoke positively of him, as did his cellmates. "Guys who have already been released from prison once told me that although Uncle Vova is much older and the same age as their father, he was a friend to them," she added.

"It's important not to lose heart and do good," Vladimir himself concluded after his release.

As a reminder, back in October 2021, the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that individual or collective religious observance, religious rites, and ceremonies in themselves should not be considered the activity of an extremist organization unless they contain elements of extremism. However, in practice, state prosecutors ignore this decision.

Earlier, in October 2020, a court in Kabardino-Balkaria acquitted local Jehovah's Witness* Yuri Zalipaev, who was accused of inciting extremism. In September 2021, the court awarded him 500,000 rubles in compensation, and the prosecutor apologized to the believer for the criminal prosecution. Acquittals for Jehovah's Witnesses* are rare in the Russian judicial system, Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, commented on the court's decision at the time.

On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia, following a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice, declared the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia* and its 395 branches extremist organizations, banning their activities. The "Caucasian Knot" covers the consequences of this ban on the thematic page "The Ministry of Justice against Jehovah's Witnesses*".

* 396 Russian Jehovah's Witness organizations have been designated as extremist, and their activities in Russia have been banned by court order.

** Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.