IN OMSK PENTECOSTALS CHARGED FOR FIRST TIME ON ARTICLE 111
SOVA Center for News and Analysis, 19 November 2018
The director of the "Regeneration 21st Century" religious organization is being accused of creating an organization that infringes the personality and rights of citizens and also of causing severe harm to the health of believers. An expert analysis regarded as evidence of a changed consciousness, believers' stories about a feeling of oneness with God.
In mid-November 2018 were learned details of a case against the Omsk religious group of Christians of Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals) "Regeneration 21st Century."
Pastor Nikolai Kuznetsov is charged not only on the basis of article 239 (creation of a noncommercial organization infringing the personality and rights of citizens) but also on the basis of article 111 of the Criminal Code of the RF (intentional infliction of severe harm to health). We do not know just what harm to health is meant.
The indictment was issued on the basis of an expert conclusion prepared by the chief external specialist in clinical psychology of the Ministry of Health of Omsk oblast, D.V. Chetverikov, and a psychiatric psychotherapist narcologist doctor, D.Yu. Kolomytsev.
Eleven complex psychological psychiatric expert analyses did not find any psychiatric disorder in people who attended this organization. However Chetverikov and Kolomytsev came to the conclusion that "psychotechniques" being used by the leader of the organization lead to a dependent personality disorder and further attendance of believers in the church will inevitably lead to "other psychiatric disorders."
The experts evaluated stories of parishioners about a feeling of "enlightenment," "oneness with God" and "contact with the Holy Spirit" as a "changed state of consciousness" that attended them in church. Believers' stories about how coming to the church helped them renounce the use of drugs and alcohol were interpreted by Chetverikov and Kolomytsev as confirmation of a change in chemical to nonchemical dependency.
Several persons who were involved in the case as witnesses were considered to be victims, although none of the "victims" asked for help.
The court session on this case is scheduled for 26 November. In the event that the pastor is found guilty, he faces incarceration of up to 12 years. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 November 2018)
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