JEHOVAH'S
WITNESS
DENNIS CHRISTENSEN WILL NOT LEAVE COLONY IN NEAR FUTURE
Website
of Za
prava
cheloveka, 1 July 2020
The
Jehovah's Witness
(an organization ruled to be extremist in the RF) Dennis
Christensen, who is
serving a prison term in the Lgov penal colony on a charge of
extremism, will
not leave it in the coming weeks, despite the decision of a
court concerning a
probationary release. The reason for that is an appeal that was
filed by the
prosecutor's office against the decision of a court that
mitigated the
punishment for the believer. This information was posted on his
Facebook page
by an official representative of the European Association of
Jehovah's
Witnesses Ivan Belenko.
Ivan
Belenko also
reports that the administration of the penal colony sent Dennis
Christensen to
an E.P.K.T. ["Edinoe Pomeshchenie Kamernogo Tipa"—a special
disciplinary facility]. Placement in an E.P.K.T. is the severest
measure of
punishment in places of incarceration and it is used for
incorrigible violators
of prison procedures.
"Lawyers
are
looking into the circumstances, and fellow believers are
offering prayers and
seeking opportunities for rendering to him practical help. It is
reported that
Dennis Christensen himself is not discouraged," Ivan Belenko
writes.
Previously,
the Lgov
district court granted the petition of Dennis Christensen's
lawyers for
probationary early release, although it ordered that Christensen
will have to
pay a fine of 400,000 rubles.
We
recall that the
Dane Dennis Christensen, who was living in Orel, was charged
with organizing an
extremist community (part 1 of article 282 of the CC RF). On 6
February 2019
Christensen was sentenced by the Zheleznodorozhny district court
of the city of
Orel to 6 years in a penal colony of general regime. He is
serving his sentence
in Correctional Colony No. 3 of Lgov in Kursk oblast.
Christensen has
frequently complained of pressure on the part of the
administration of the colony.
According to lawyers for the Jehovah's Witness, the
administration falsifies or
tries to provoke Christensen into violations, imposes ridiculous
punishments on
him, and forces him to stop communicating with other prisoners
and discussing
his religious views with them. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 July 2020)
JEHOVAH'S
WITNESS
FROM OREL DENNIS CHRISTENSEN STILL HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED FROM
PENAL COLONY;
PLACED IN SPECIAL CELL
On 26
June, the Kursk
prosecutor for monitoring correctional facilities appealed the
decision of a
court mitigating the penalty of the Jehovah's Witness from Orel,
Danish citizen
Dennis Christensen. On the same day, prison personnel placed him
for ten days
in a special punishment unit intended for incorrigible violators
of
regulations, a correspondent of the Credo.Press portal reports,
citing a source
among Russian Jehovah's Witnesses.
A
defense attorney
will file a challenge to the appeal of the prosecutor's office.
Nevertheless,
Dennis Christensen will still not be able to leave the colony
for a long time.
On 23
June, the Lgov
district court of Kursk oblast ordered to mitigate the
punishment for
Christensen, substituting a fine of 400,000 rubles for the
unserved portion of
the sentence. During the trial, the prosecutor supported the
believer's
petition for substituting the fine for incarceration.
Dennis
Christensen was
held criminally liable back before the liquidation in April 2017
by the Russian
Supreme Court of all 396 religious organizations of Jehovah's
Witnesses, which
were ruled to be extremist. At the time, the Orel organization
of Jehovah's
Witnesses had already been liquidated as extremist. The main
evidence of the
prosecution in his case was investigative video recordings of
Christensen
opening the gate of the house of worship, clearing snow in the
yard, and
welcoming fellow believers. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 July 2020)
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