DANISH SUBJECT JEHOVAH'S WITNESS DETAINED FOR TWO MONTHS IN OREL PROVINCE
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 27 May 2017
A 44-year-old Dane, Dennis Christensen, who is respected in the circle of his fellow believers, was sent to a SIZO [pre-trial isolation cell] for two months in the city of Orel. He is charged with continuing the activity of an organization that had been banned for extremism (article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the RF). He was arrested on 25 May 2017 during a joint Bible reading, which local Jehovah's Witnesses were conducting in a building on Zheleznodorozhnaia St.
In the evening of 25 May at 7:30 p.m., the street near the building, which belongs to one of the believers, began filling with automobiles and buses with armed persons in masks—OMON troops. Under the direction of an investigator of the FSB, a group entered the building and blocked the believers who were in it, who were not allowed to touch their telephones and tablets. Inspection of documents, searches, and questioning continued until morning. Searches were conducted in a number of residences of believers.
On Friday, 26 May 2017, Judge Svetlana Naumova ordered the selection of a measure of prevention for Dennis Christensen in the form of detention for two months. Dennis' wife, Irina Christensen, and also lawyers, intend to use all possible means of legal defense. The consulate of the Kingdom of Denmark was notified about the incident. (tr. by PDS, posted 27 May 2017)
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