JEHOVAH'S
WITNESS CONVICTED FOR SPEECH ABOUT STRENGTHENING THE FAMILY
A
court in Khabarovsk found Jehovah's Witness Evgeny Aksenov
guilty of
participating in the activity of an extremist organization. For
reading and
discussing the Bible he was given a suspended sentence of two
years
imprisonment. This is posted on the official website of
Jehovah's Witnesses in
Russia, Radio Liberty reports.
According
to information of the investigation, Aksenov, together with
friends and
acquaintances, gathered in one of the conference halls of
Khabarovsk "for
group reading and discussion of the Bible, singing songs, and
prayers." At
the meetings, the convict supposedly "delivered speeches on the
topic of
strengthening the family."
The
criminal case for public reading of the Bible was brought
against Aksenov in
July. In early August a search was conducted in his home. The
translation of
the Bible used by Jehovah's Witnesses has been called
"extremist."
On
20 April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court issued a decision
finding the
Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses to be an extremist
organization.
Since that time, according to information from Memorial, 39
adherents of the
religious organization have been subjected to criminal
prosecution. Twenty-nine
of them were assigned measures of restriction involving
limitation on liberty: 23
persons are in a SIZO [pretrial detention cell] and the rest are
under house
arrest.
The
majority of the detainees are charged on the basis of the
article
"Arranging the activity of a religious organization with regard
to which a
decision has by made for liquidation because of conducting
extremist
activity." (tr. by PDS, posted 18 February 2020)
IN
KHABAROVSK, PROSECUTION REQUESTS THREE YEARS IN PENAL COLONY
FOR JEHOVAH'S
WITNESS
Memorial
Human
Rights Center, 9 February 2020
On
6 February, during debates in the Zheleznodorozhny district
court of
Khabarovsk, the prosecution side requested for Jehovah's
Witness Evgeny
Aksenov, charged with participating in the activity of an
extremist
organization (part 2 of article 282.2 CC RF), three years of
incarceration to
be served in a prison colony of general regime. This is
reported on the website
of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.
Aksenov
received the status of a defendant in the case on 24 July
2019. At the time, he
was released on his own recognizance.
According
to the account of the investigation, Aksenov's participation
in the activity of
an extremist organization was expressed in the fact that in
April 2018 he
publicly read the Bible (the translation used by the Jehovah's
Witnesses has
been ruled to be extremist) at a meeting held in a conference
hall of a hotel
complex in Khabarovsk.
In
April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court ruled the Administrative
Center of
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to be an extremist organization
and liquidated
it. In late 2017, the director of the Administrative Center of
Jehovah's
Witnesses in Russia, Vasily Kalin, filed in the European Court
of Human Rights
an appeal against the illegal liquidation of the organization
and the seizure
of property from Jehovists. The Russian government considered
the appeal to be
inadmissible and sent objections to the E.C.H.R.
The
Memorial Human Rights Center considers the detained Jehovah's
Witnesses to be
political prisoners and demands an end to the prosecution of
Jehovah's
Witnesses connected with their religious affiliation. (tr. by
PDS, posted 18
February 2020)
Background article:
Another Khabarovsk Jehovah's Witness
goes on trial
October 29, 2019
Jehovah's Witness indicted in Russian
Far East
August 6, 2019
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