RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


Court sets deadline for trial of Danish Jehovah's Witness

OREL COURT RESTRICTS DANE CHRISTENSEN'S FAMILIARIZATION WITH CASE

Orel News, 12 December 2017

 

The Soviet district court of Orel granted the petition of an investigator of the Directorate of the Federal Security Service [FSB] for restricting the time for familiarization with the materials of the case of the Dane Dennis Christensen, who is accused of continuing the activity of an extremist organization.

 

"Having considered the aforesaid order of the investigator and materials that were submitted, the court has come to the conclusion that the defendant and his lawyers have unreasonably dragged out the procedure of familiarization with the materials of the criminal case, and therefore it has made the decision to grant the petition of the investigator. The defendant, D.E. Christensen, and his lawyers were given a deadline for familiarization with materials of the criminal case of 25 December 2017, inclusive," the court's press service reported.

 

Danish citizen Dennis Christensen was arrested 26 May and confined by the district court for two months. The day before the arrest, FSB and police personnel conducted searches in a building where local adherents of Jehovah's Witnesses, an organization that is banned in Russia, gathered. The siloviki reported that extremist literature was seized during the searches. In addition, testimony of witnesses was obtained regarding the participation of the Dane in criminal activity of an extremist nature, the FSB reported. A criminal case for planning the activity of a forbidden organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) was initiated against Christensen.

 

In July of this year, rights advocates of the "Memorial" organization recognized Christensen as a political prisoner.

 

In September, the court once again extended Christensen's detention. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 December 2017)


Background article:
Danish Jehovah's Witness kept in jail another time
November 20, 2017

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