MEMBER OF STATE DUMA EXPERT COUNCIL COMMENTS ON ARREST OF FOLLOWER OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN UFA
Expert thinks that the right of citizens to freedom of religious confession has been ignored in Russia in the past two years
by Darya Kucherenko
Konstantin Andreev, a kandidat of juridical sciences and member of the expert council of the Russian State Duma's Committee on Affairs of Public Associations and Religious Organizations, commented on the criminal case against a follower of the Jehovah's Witnesses movement that is prohibited in Russia. Anatoly Vilitkevich was arrested about two months ago and he now is in a SIZO on a charge of creating an extremist society. The rights advocacy center Memorial has recognized him as a political prisoner.
"To apply to Anatoly Vilitkevich the term 'political prisoner' is not quite correct. There is another appropriate term: 'prisoner of conscience,' which can be applied to a person being held in custody or in confinement exclusively for the fact that he peacefully expressed his political, but in our case . . . religious views. The ruling that the 'Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia' is an extremist organization does not abrogate with respect to a citizen his constitutional freedom of religious confession, which he may exercise jointly both with fellow believers in the membership of a religious association and without joining one.
"According to point 1 of article 3 of the federal law of 26 September 1997 'On freedom of conscience and religious associations,' in the Russian Federation, freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession are guaranteed, including the right to profess individually or jointly with others any religion or not to profess any, to conduct worship services and other religious rituals and ceremonies, to carry out the study of religion and religious education, and freely to select and change and to hold and disseminate religious and other convictions and to act in accordance with them, including by creating religious associations.
"Formally, according to the letter of the law, a religious association is recognized as such after its state registration, in the form of a legal entity, or after giving notification about its creation, in the form of a religious group.
"However, the practice of law enforcement in the last two years has gone along the path of effectively ignoring the rights of citizens to the informal exercise of the constitutional freedom of religious confession.
"The charges brought against Vilitkevich, thus, are not based on the fact that he is a believing Jehovah's Witness but on the fact that in exercising his freedom of conscience he professed his faith jointly with others and thereby, in the opinion of law enforcement agencies, allegedly 'recreated' the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses which is prohibited since a court ruled it is an extremist community."
Note: In June of last year, Konstantin Andreev participated in the defense of a student of an Ufa educational institution, a citizen of the republic of Ghana, who was fined for the creation of a religious group. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 June 2018)
MEMORIAL RECOGNIZES ANATOLY VILITKEVICH, ARRESTED IN CASE OF MEMBERSHIP IN JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, TO BE POLITICAL PRISONER
The rights advocacy center "Memorial" recognized a resident of Ufa, Anatoly Vilitkevich, who is in custody in a case of membership in the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses, to be a political prisoner. The statement was published on the website of the organization.
A case was opened against Vilitkevich regarding the planning of the activity of a religious organization, regarding which a decision has been made for its liquidation (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). He has been in a SIZO since 10 April.
"From our point of view, the charges presented to Vilitkevich merely on the basis that he is a Jehovah's Witness believer are discriminatory and they violate international legal acts, specifically the right to freedom of religious confession," the Memorial's statement says.
Rights advocates have called for putting an end to the criminal prosecution of Vilitkevich and other alleged adherents of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
In 2017 the Supreme Court ruled the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to be an extremist organization and it prohibited its activity. After this, in various regions of Russia there began searches in the homes of alleged adherents of the movement and their arrest. In particular, searches have been reported in Murmansk, Orenburg, Ivanovo, Magadan, and Tomsk oblasts and also in Naberezhnye Chelny in the Primore.
Yesterday adherents of Jehovah's Witnesses sent to the Council on Human Rights under the president an open letter in which they urged an attempt to put an end to persecution of their supporters on the part of security forces. (tr. by PDS, posted 14 June 2018)
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