Russian “cult leader” who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ was sentenced to 12 years in a penal colony on Monday after being found guilty of harming the health and finances of his followers, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
Sergei Torop, a former traffic policeman known by the nickname “Visarion”, founded the Church of the Last Testament in a remote and picturesque corner of Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region in 1991 – the year the Soviet Union collapsed. He began claiming to be the reincarnation of God’s son and preached the word of God, attracting thousands of followers who came to live in the settlement known as the “Abode of the Dawn” or “City of the Sun” at a time when Russia was struggling with poverty and lawlessness.
Torop, 64, preaches to his followers to stop eating meat, smoking and drinking alcohol, to stop swearing and not using money.
However, Russia’s Investigative Committee has accused Torop and two of his aides of using “psychological pressure to extort money from his followers and of causing serious harm to their mental and physical health”.
In the ruling, a court in the Russian city of Novosibirsk found (even if we know of the lack of trustworthyness of Russian courts nowadays) the three men guilty, sentencing Torop and Vladimir Vedornikov to 12 years in prison each, and Vadim Redkin to 11 years. All three will serve their sentences in a maximum-security penal colony.
The three men were also ordered to pay 40 million rubles ($511,500) in compensation for non-pecuniary damage to the victims. The convicts have pleaded not guilty and deny any wrongdoing.
Torop and his two aides were arrested in a spectacular helicopter raid in 2020, involving Russia’s Federal Security Service.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that investigators believe the three men caused non-pecuniary damage to 16 people, serious mental health damage to six people, and moderate health damage to another person.
The agency said Vedornikov was also charged with fraud.
