KRASNODAR TERRITORIAL COURT FINDS JEHOVAH'S WITNESS' ARREST FOR DISTRIBUTING RELIGIOUS LITERATURE ILLEGAL
The 58-year-old elder of the religious congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, Vladimir Eltavsky, who was arrested in the courtroom in the village of Briukhovets, of Krasnodar territory, RF, went free after 32 hours of illegal detention in an isolation cell. A higher court ruled as illegal the order for a 12-day detention that had been issued by Briukhovets Judge Dmitry Mosypan, the press service of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia reported on 9 July.
During an appellate hearing, a representative of the territorial prosecutor's office expressed surprise at the actions of the district prosecutor, A. Fomenko, who shut his eyes to the obvious reasons for closing the case.
"Detention for 12 days was for me like a bolt out of clear sky," Vladimir Eltavsky says. "I am profoundly thankful to Judge Evgeny Smirnov, who on review of the case was able to clear up the situation."
The arrest of Vladimir Eltavsky, who was accused of possession and distribution of Jehovah's Witnesses' literature, was reported by Portal-credo.ru on 2 July. (tr. by PDS, posted 9 July 2015)
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