The Lensky District Court of the Republic of Sakha will announce its verdict on March 31, 2020, concerning Brother Igor Ivashin. The prosecutor is seeking a seven-year prison term.

In February 2018, the Yakutsk City Court authorized police to begin wiretapping Brother Ivashin’s phone. Several months later, local authorities raided eight homes of Witnesses, including the home of Brother Ivashin. He and 21 other Witnesses were taken to the police station and interrogated. The deputy prosecutor sought charges against Brother Ivashin for organizing the activities of an “extremist” organization.

On November 20, 2019, the case was returned to the prosecutor’s office for lack of specific evidence to support the charges. The prosecution appealed, and the case was sent back to the district court for trial. Hearings began in early February 2020.

Brother Ivashin and his wife, Natalia, have two daughters. As his trial quickly draws to a close, we pray that the Ivashin family continues to “endure fully with patience and joy.”—Colossians 1:11.