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JANUARY 28, 2025
RUSSIA

Brother Dmitriy Terebilov, prior to his arrest in 2021

Dmitriy Terebilov Receives Second Conviction and Remains in Prison

Dmitriy Terebilov Receives Second Conviction and Remains in Prison

On January 23, 2025, the Sverdlovskiy District Court of the city of Kostroma convicted Brother Dmitriy Terebilov and sentenced him to five years and five days in prison. This is Dmitriy’s second conviction and prison term for his faith.

In September 2021, Dmitriy was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for participating in religious meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses. While serving his prison sentence, a fellow inmate asked Dmitriy questions about the Bible. He also asked for help to quit smoking. It was later revealed that their conversations had been recorded as part of a sting operation. Authorities used the recordings to accuse Dmitriy of spreading “extremist” views, leading to a second criminal charge in April 2023. Notably, this is the first time a Russian court has criminally tried one of Jehovah’s Witnesses for discussing the Bible while in prison since the ban was imposed in 2017. Subsequently, instead of being released after completing his prison term in September 2024, the court ordered that Dmitriy be transferred to a pretrial detention center to await the outcome of this second trial.

In his final comments to the court during this most recent trial, Dmitriy shared how he maintained perspective while being unjustly persecuted: “Facing trials isn’t the frightening part; giving up or not learning from them is. Throughout this experience, my family and I have felt Jehovah’s support, helping us to endure and look to the future with confidence. I’m grateful to Jehovah for helping me maintain the right attitude toward both the persecution and those who carry it out.”

While we are saddened by the continued persecution of our brothers and sisters, we remain confident that Jehovah will provide Dmitriy and his family with strength and comfort. How grateful we are to know that soon the suffering caused by such trials “will not be called to mind.”—Isaiah 65:17.