DISTRICT COURT OF OREL AGAIN EXTENDS DETENTION OF DANISH CITIZEN BELIEVER FOR THREE MONTHS
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 20 November 2017
On 20 November 2017, a judge of the Soviet district court of the city of Orel decided to leave a law-abiding Jehovah's Witness behind bars, extending until 23 February 2018 his detention in custody.
A local resident, Dennis Christensen, who has Danish citizenship and is married to an Orel woman, was arrested on 25 May 2017 during a Bible study, which he was attending along with his wife Irina. Personnel of the F.S.B., investigating the case, declared without reason that Christensen "was continuing" the activity of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Orel, which had been liquidated by a court decision. Meanwhile, the believer was never a member of this organization, of which the court could have been convinced easily by simply looking at the documents received from the local office of justice. Throughout the course of six months, from the moment of Christensen's arrest, F.S.B. investigators questioned dozens of residents of Orel province and other regions, trying to collect proof of some kind of illegal activity by the believer.
During a three-hour hearing, Judge Andrei Tretiakov did not want to grant the petition of the defense for changing the measure of prevention into a milder one, such as house arrest. The court also did not give attention to official guarantees of the Royal Embassy of Denmark, which for humanitarian reasons gave assurances that it would not give Christensen a new passport to replace one seized by investigators, and it would not assist in his leaving the borders of the Russian federation.
The fact that the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Orel had been liquidated by a court and its activity is prohibited does not abrogate the right, enshrined in the Russian constitution, "of each person" (that is, not only a citizen of Russia) to freedom of religious confession. According to the fundamental law of the country, each person is guaranteed freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession, including the right to profess individually or collectively with others any religion and to choose freely and hold and disseminate religious and other convictions and to act in accordance with them. Dennis Christensen's main occupation in Orel was installation of wooden constructions; he was in the city of Orel for personal reasons and not on the basis of an invitation from any organization.
Dennis Christensen is completely innocent. (tr.
by PDS,
posted 21 November 2017)
Background articles:
European
court demands that Russia account for imprisonment of Jehovah's
Witness
November 17, 2017
Danish
Jehovah's Witness loses in court again
September 30, 2017
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.