PROSECUTOR
REQUESTS 7
YEARS IN COLONY FOR EVGENY SPIRIN DESPITE OBVIOUSLY FABRICATED
CASE
Jehovah's
Witnesses
in Russia, 9 July 2020
On 9
July 2020, the
prosecutor demanded sentencing 34-year-old Evgeny Spirin to
seven years in a
penal colony, concluding without rational basis that religious
conversations
are extremism. Evgeny does not acknowledge himself to be guilty.
On 14 July he
will possibly speak out with his final word. Then the Furmanov
city court may
issue a verdict.
The
F.S.B. for Ivanovo
oblast opened a criminal case against Evgeny Spirin on 21
January 2019. Before
that, intelligence agents had been observing the believer with
the help of an under
cover agent, a former police officer who feigned interest in the
Bible. Evgeny
was charged with reviving the activity of a forbidden religious
organization of
Jehovah's Witnesses, inasmuch as he had not stopped
participating in religious
meetings of fellow believers.
On the
first day of
debates of the parties in Furmanov city court of Ivanovo oblast
the prosecutor
spoke. He concluded that Evgeny Spirin's guilt had been proven
and asked for
seven years incarceration for him.
"I never
was
either an organizer or a participant in a forbidden religious
organization. I
simply profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. My religious
convictions
are based on the Bible alone," Evgeny Spirin declared in his
turn during
one of the previous judicial sessions.
The
prosecutor
requested a prison term for the believer, despite the obvious
falsifications in
the case. In particular, a handwriting expert confirmed the
fabrication of the
report of a search in Spirin's home and his former neighbor,
during questioning
in court, reported that she had not given a negative character
reference of the
defendant in the case.
The
second portion of
the debates is scheduled for 14 July 2020. On that day the
believer's defense
attorney will speak and possibly Evgeny Spirin will also address
the court with
his final word. Then Judge Yury Gnedin may announce the verdict.
Evgeny
Spirin was
arrested on 27 January 2019, when about ten intelligence agents
in civilian
clothing broke down the door to the apartment where he was
living with his
spouse, Natalia. At the time, friends were visiting the
believers, including an
11-year-old child, an 82-year-old retiree, and a 70-year-old
disabled woman.
Several security officers pushed Evgeny into the kitchen and
handcuffed him.
Electronic devices, literature, and postcards were taken from
the people
present. Law enforcers behaved rudely, called the group a
"sect," and
threatened to subject them to a humiliating search.
The next
day Judge
Larisa Zubova of the October district court of the city of
Ivanovo sent Spirin
to the SIZO, where Evgeny spent 5.5 months. The believer spent
the same length
of time under house arrest. On 18 December 2019, the court
ordered Spirin's
release from house arrest.
According
to the
decision of the Working Group on Arbitrary Arrests of the Human
Rights Council
of the United Nations, which examined the case of Evgeny Spirin,
the activity
of Jehovah's Witnesses has nothing to do with extremism. (tr. by
PDS, posted 9
July 2020)
PROSECUTOR
REQUESTS 7
YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR JEHOVAH' WITNESS ON EXTREMIST
ORGANIZATION ARTICLE
At a
session of the
Furmanov city court, the prosecutor requested seven years
incarceration for
Jehovah's Witness Evgeny Spirin from Ivanovo oblast, who is
accused of
arranging the activity of an extremist organization (part 1 of
article 282.2 of
the CC). This is reported on the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia
website.
Spirin
himself in
court maintained that he never was the organizer or a
participant of a
forbidden organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. He studied the
Bible
independently and discussed ideas from it with friends. Spirin
also noted that
he treats representatives of other confessions with respect and
he is grateful
to the state for providing the right to alternative civilian
service, which he
had performed readily despite its length (3.5 years).
The case
against
Spirin was opened in January 2019. According to the account of
the
investigation, he conducted worship services along with other
people, which is
interpreted as "arranging the activity of an extremist
organization."
The believer spent more than 5 months in a SIZO, after which he
was sent to
house arrest for a little more than 5 months. In December 2019,
the measure of
restriction for him was not extended. (tr. by PDS, posted 9 July
2020)
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