COURT
REFUSES TO
MITIGATE MEASURE OF RESTRAINT FOR VOLGOGRAD JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
A court
in Volgograd
extended the measure of restraint for five Jehovah's Witnesses
in the form of a
prohibition on certain activities. The defense declared that it
will appeal the
court's decision. Relatives complained about the difficult
physical
circumstances due to the prosecution of believers and the
quarantine due to the
coronavirus.
As
Kavkazskii Uzel
has written, the investigation charged with extremism five
believers from
Volgograd: Valery Rogozin, Sergei Melnik, Igor Egozarian,
Viacheslav Osipov,
and Denis Peresunko. They were in custody and now the measure of
restraint has
been mitigated for them to a prohibition on certain activities.
The accused
themselves do not acknowledge themselves as extremists. They
insist that they
are not participating in the activity of a legal entity that has
been banned by
a court, but they are simply professing their own religion as
individuals.
Relatives, neighbors, and colleagues of the Volgograd Jehovah's
Witnesses who
do not share their faith doubt the validity of the criminal
prosecution and
they call the investigation's account of the believers'
extremism ludicrous.
Court
continues
restrictions on believers despite call from U.N.O.
On 29
May, the
Traktorozavod district court of Volgograd made a decision to
extend until 9
September the measure of restraint in the form of a prohibition
of certain activities
for five Jehovah's Witnesses, a worker for the Joint Press
Service of Courts
for Volgograd oblast told a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent.
He also
described how
only participants in the trials in masks and gloves were
admitted to the
sessions. "We are expecting a ruling on self-isolation. If it is
extended,
then the rules of access to the court will remain as they are,"
the press
service worker noted.
A regime
of self-isolation
is in effect in Volgograd oblast and since 20 May residents of
the region are
required to wear masks and gloves in public places.
The
defense insisted
on a cancellation of the measure of restraint and a termination
of the criminal
prosecution, Viacheslav Osipov's lawyer, Roman Levin, told a
Kavkazskii Uzel
correspondent. "All defendants and all their defense attorneys
intend to
appeal the ruling that was issued," he said.
"A
petition was
filed, which is related to a decision of a United Nations
working group
regarding the statements of the defendants. . . . The
prosecution has cited a
ruling of the Constitutional Court in which, according to one
point, the
Russian Federation has no obligation to execute the decision of
such bodies and
the country is required to consider the decision of such bodies
only when issuing
its judicial decisions while considering criminal cases. This is
the basis for
the court's refusing to grant our petition," Levin explained.
In the
petition for
cancelling Igor Egozarian's measure of restraint in the form of
a prohibition
of certain activities, a copy of which Kavkazskii Uzel has at
its disposal, it
is noted that "one of the bodies of the Organization of United
Nations,
which facilitates the elimination of the violation of human
rights and
liberties, is the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the
U.N.O.'s Council
on Human Rights." In his petition, Egozarian cited the legal
position of
the Russian Constitutional Court, stated in point 4.2 of
determination No. 1276-O
of 9 June 2015. "The Russian Federation cannot leave without
consequences
the opinion of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in cases
where
violation of the provisions of the pact has been established. .
. . The state
is obliged to recognize and to guarantee the rights and
liberties of man and
citizen in accordance with generally recognized principles and
norms of
international law," the petition states.
In
accordance with
the decision of the working group, the appropriate response will
be the
immediate release of the Jehovah's Witnesses with the grant of
the right to
compensation and redress for damages.
It also
points out
that at the 87th session of the U.N. Council on Human Rights,
which was held on
27 April to 1 May, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
issued an opinion
concerning simultaneous statements of 18 persons who profess the
religion of
the Jehovah's Witnesses. "Conclusions formulated in the present
document
should be immediately implemented in this criminal case and they
attest to the
necessity of immediate cancellation of measures of restraint and
the
termination of criminal prosecution of persons of the aforesaid
category,"
the petition says.
Levin
explained that
the regime of self-isolation does not negate the guarantee of
equal access of
the parties to the trial, who all were in masks and gloves.
Sergei
Melnik's wife,
Anna, explained for a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent that after
the presentation
of the petition with the opinion of the U.N. Working Group on
Arbitrary
Detention, the court withdrew for 40 minutes to consult, and
then it declared a
recess. "The prosecutor's office was puzzled and asked for a
postponement
of one day, but in the end it was postponed for several hours,"
she said.
Anna said that the opinion of the U.N. working group of 24 pages
was attached
to the petition (Kavkazskii Uzel has a copy of the document).
She
reported that
only the wives of the defendants came to the courthouse today.
"Only the
defendants and their lawyers were permitted to enter the court
and observers were
not admitted. We stood outside," Anna explained. At the last
session, a
petition was filed for postponing the hearings until the end of
quarantine
measures, but it was rejected, the wife of the defendant noted.
Anna
said the session
of the trial for consideration of the cases on the merits is
scheduled for
10.00 a.m. Moscow time on 30 June.
Difficulties
for
families of defendants intensify
Anna
Melnika also
explained that Viacheslav Osipov's mother recently died. She had
supported him
in court: "She because anxious and felt bad and went to the
doctor, but
she died on the way."
Restrictive
measures
connected with the criminal prosecution and the coronavirus have
put the
families of the defendants in a difficult situation. "Now my
husband takes
only minor jobs. In addition, because of the quarantine we are
restricted in
our movements. . . . So he is working only in the village,"
Melnik's wife
explained. She said that the families of the defendants are
being helped by
believers.
Valery
Rogozin's wife,
Marina Rogozina, also reported about the difficult material
situation. She said
that the organization where her husband worked closed for the
period of quarantine
and therefore they are living on his pension.
Searches
in Jehovah's
Witnesses' homes have not ceased
Courts
have changed
the tactics of conducting Jehovah's Witnesses' cases because of
the coronavirus
pandemic, a representative of the European Association of
Jehovah's Witnesses,
Yaroslav Sivulsky, told a Kavkazskii Uzel correspondent.
"Basically,
cases
brought in court are not being considered on the merits but are
postponed
for a more favorable time. But another category of cases—on
measures of
restraint—remain and are being considered in the usual way, in
the presence of
detainees and their lawyers. There is no possibility for those
who support [the
defendants] to appear in court," he explained.
Sivulsky
said that
the number of searches in homes of Jehovah's Witnesses has
declined, but they
are being conducted nevertheless "despite the quarantine and the
fact that
people are supposed to be in self-isolation." "Families are
subjected
to risk and danger when a search is conducted during a
quarantine. Law
enforcement agencies . . . not only are themselves in violation
but they are subjecting
people to danger, because nobody knows whether they are carriers
of the virus.
They come to the families where there are children and elderly
folk,"
Sivulsky explained.
He noted
that from 1
January to 3 April, 19 criminal cases have been opened against
Jehovah's
Witnesses, and seven guilty verdicts have been issued and there
are reports
about cruel treatments of Nikolai Kuzichkin and Artem Bagratian.
An
expert of the
Institute of Human Rights, Lev Levinson, noted that this year
the number of
criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses "is essentially
unchanged."
"If it
is
impossible to conduct open legal proceedings with the public for
sanitary and
epidemiological reasons, then they should be postponed. And if
people are
detained in custody, with the exception of cases of violent
crimes against an
individual, they should be released and placed under house
arrest or given some
other measure of restraint. This is a completely obvious
situation," he
thinks.
Proceedings
that are
of interest to society and the news media should be open, he
thinks.
"Cases of Jehovah's Witnesses are cases of paramount
significance. . . . Postponing
them for those who are not being held in custody is the right
thing. Waiting
until the pandemic ends may take forever. Therefore they should
be released;
they represent absolutely no danger for society," Levinson
declared. (tr.
by PDS, posted 1 June 2020)
March 14, 2020
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