Confess Incarnation Of Jesus, Former Traffic Police In Russia Imprisoned For 12 Years

Sergei Torop alias Vissarion / DOK PHOTO via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - A leader of a Russian sect claiming to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of his actions that were detrimental to the health and finances of his followers.

Sergei Torop, a former traffic policeman known by his followers as 'Vissarion', founded the Last Treaty Church in a remote area of the Siberian Krasnoyarsk region in 1991.

Men with long hair claim to have been "born again" to convey the word of God and attract thousands of followers.

His followers flocked to live in settlements known as "Abode of Dawn" or "Sun City", while Russia was battling poverty and breaking the law.

Torop (64 years) told his followers not to eat meat, not smoke, not drink alcohol or swear, and stop using money.

However, the Investigative Committee, on par with the US FBI in Russia, accused Torop and his two aides of using psychological pressure to extort money from their followers and cause serious harm to their mental and physical health.

As reported by Reuters on Tuesday, July 1, a court in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, on Monday, June 30 sentenced the three men to 12 years in prison to Torop and Vladimir Vedernikov and 11 years in prison in maximum security to Vadim Redkin.

They were also ordered to pay 40 million rubles ($511,500) in compensation to their victims for "moral damage".

The three of them denied making mistakes.

Torop and two of his aides were arrested in a helicopter raid in 2020 involving the FSB security service, the successor to the Soviet KGB. According to state news agency RIA, investigators said the men had caused "moral losses" to 16 people, serious damage to six people's physical health, and moderate damage to other people's health.

Vedernikov, one of his aides, was also accused of fraud.