PENZA
OBLAST COURT
OVERTURNS SENTENCE OF SIX ADHERENTS OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
ORGANIZATION
On
Wednesday, the
oblast court of Penza overturned the decision of the court of
the first
instance, which sentenced to six years in a penal colony the
leader of the
local cell of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses (which is
forbidden in
Russia), Vladimir Alushkin, as well as five subjects of the
case, who were given
suspended prison terms. The case was sent for another review in
the Lenin district
court of Penza, TASS was told in the press service of the oblast
court.
On 13
December 2019,
the Lenin district court of Penza sentenced Alushkin to six
years in a penal
colony of general regime. Another five subjects of the case were
sentenced to
two years suspended terms for participation in the activity of
the extremist
organization.
"The
sentence of
the Lenin district court was overturned because of violations of
laws of
criminal procedural. The case was remanded for a new
consideration in the Lenin
district court of Penza with a different judge," the news
agency's source
reported, adding that Alushkin has been released from custody.
Alushkin
and the
other subjects of the case were arrested in Penza in August
2018. The court of
the first instance determined that Alushkin revived the activity
of the local
"Arbekovo Penza" local religious organization and he assigned
roles
to the group's members, engaged in preaching ideas of the
organization,
distributed literature, and collected donations. The subjects in
the case did
not admit their guilt and filed appeals. (tr. by PDS, posted 25
March 2020)
Background articles:
Six Jehovah's Witnesses criminally
indicted in Penza,
July 1, 2019
January 13, 2020
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