Gennadiy Shpakovsky, a 61-year-old Jehovah’s Witness from Pskov, western Russia, was sentenced to six and a half years’ imprisonment on 9 June for his faith. He is appealing his sentence, the harshest so far against a Jehovah’s Witness in Russia. Gennadiy Shpakovskiy is a prisoner of conscience prosecuted solely for exercising his right to freedom of religion. All charges against him must be dropped and he must be released immediately and unconditionally.
