TWO
JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES GIVEN SUSPENDED PRISON TERMS IN KHABAROVSK
A court
in Khabarovsk
sentenced two Jehovah's Witnesses, Nikolai Polevodov and
Stanislav Kim, to
suspended prison terms. They were given two years, suspended,
with a
probationary term of two years, having been found guilty of
participating in
the activity of an extremist organization. This was reported on
the website of
the religious organization.
The
investigation
requested sentencing Polevodov and Kim to three years in prison,
with one year
of restricted liberty. They themselves did not admit guilt. They
were accused
of meeting in a café in April 2018, which, according to the
account of the
investigation bore an extremist nature. A lawyer for the
prosecution explained
in court that nobody mentioned the organization at the meeting,
of which a
video recording from an operation gave evidence. The
prosecution's account was
based on evidence from a secret witness, "Smirnov," who was at
the
meeting. He refused to answer most of the questions at the trial
since he did
not want to disclose his identity, the website of the religious
organization
says.
In early
August,
searches were conducted in four homes of alleged adherents of
the Jehovah's
Witnesses in Khabarovsk. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 February 2020)
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