JEHOVAH'S
WITNESSES
LEADER'S PENALTY REDUCED TO SUSPENDED SENTENCE
The
Penza oblast
court mitigated the sentence for Penza resident Vladimir
Alushkin, who was
found guilty in December of last year of organizing an extremist
religious
congregation. According to the account of the investigation,
Alushkin and his
five supporters created in Penza the "Arbekovo. Penza" religious
organization of Jehovah's Witnesses (considered extremist and
banned in the
R.F.).
In
December of last
year, the Lenin district court of Penza sentenced 55-year-old
Vladimir Alushkin
to six years incarceration in a penal colony of general regime.
The court found
that from September 2017 to July 2018, Alushkin, along with five
fellow
believers, organized a forbidden religious congregation. The
people prayed
together and sang songs "which contained evidence of inciting
hatred
(strife) toward a person of group of persons based on their
attitude toward
religion." In addition, according to the court's verdict,
Vladimir
Alushkin collected donations from fellow believers "for the
purpose of
continuing the illegal activity of the organization."
"After a
review
of the sentence in appellate and cassation instances, on 16
September 2020 a
new appellate review of the case was held in the Penza oblast
court, in the
course of which the assigned basic penalty was reduced to a
suspended four
years of incarceration, with a probationary period of three
years and
deprivation of the right of engaging in activity connected with
leading and
participating in the work of public religious organizations for
a period of two
years plus restriction of liberty for one year," the oblast
court
explained. What motivated the court to change the sentence was
not reported.
The rest of the sentence remains unchanged. (tr. by PDS, posted
17 September
2020)
SENTENCE
OF ORGANIZER
OF CELL OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN PENZA MITIGATED
by
Natalia Savankova
Rossiiskaia
Gazeta,
17 September 2020
The
Penza oblast
court reviewed a previously issued sentence of a 56-year-old
resident of Penza,
who was found guilty of organizing a religious association
that had been
liquidated by a court decision because of the conduct of
extremist activity.
This refers to the local "Arbekovo. Penza" local religious
organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. Instead of real time in
prison he received
a suspended term.
From
September 2017
to 15 July 2018, the defendant and five of his followers
engaged in religious
activity that had been ruled to be extremist. The pertinent
ruling of the
Russian Supreme Court came out in April 2017.
"According
to
materials of the criminal case, at meetings of the Penza cell,
video recordings
were played and religious songs were sung, which contained
evidence of arousing
hatred against a person or group of persons on religious
grounds. The court
also established that collection of money in the form of
donations from members
of the organization and other persons who were followers of
the teaching was
organized, which subsequently was sent on to the
'Administrative Center of
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia,'" the press service of the
Penza oblast
court explained.
After
a review of the
sentence in appellate and cassation instances, the basic
penalty for the
organizer of the Penza cell was reduced to four years in
prison, suspended,
with a probationary term of three years. The verdict has taken
legal effect.
(tr. by PDS, posted 17 September 2020)
COURT IN
PENZA
REDUCES JEHOVAH'S WITNESS' SENTENCE, REPLACING REAL TIME WITH
SUSPENDED
SENTENCE
Memorial
Human Rights
Center, 17 September 2020
Vladimir
Alushkin was
previously sentenced to six years in a penal colony, but now he
has been given
four years suspended. The verdict for another five believers
remained without
change; they were each given suspended sentences of two years.
On 16
September, the
Penza oblast court again issued a sentence in the case of six
local Jehovah's
Witnesses. This was reported by Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.
Vladimir
Alushkin was
give four years in prison, suspended. Previously he had been
sentenced to six
years in a penal colony of general regime on a charge of
arranging the activity
of an extremist organization (part 1, article 282.2 CC RF). The
sentence against
another five subjects of the case—Andrei Magliv, Vladimir
Kuliasov, Denis
Timoshin, Tatiana Alushkina, and Galia Olkhova—remained without
change. They
earlier received a suspended two years of imprisonment each,
with a
probationary term of three years. All of them were found guilty
of
participating in the activity of an extremist organization (part
2, article
282.2 CC RF).
According
to the
account of the investigation, Alushkin, knowing for certain
about the ban on
the local "Arbekovo. Penza" religious organization of Jehovah's
Witnesses, which had been liquidated as a structural subdivision
of the
"Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia," from
July
2017 to July 2018 organized its meetings, collected funds "in
the form of
donations," drew participants into the activity of the
organization, and
disposed of its property. The other defendants, according to the
investigation,
participated in meetings and congresses, provided their
residences for
conducting religious events, and performed preaching activity.
On 15
July 2018, the
believers were arrested. While Alushkin was put into a SIZO,
Kuliasov, Magliv,
and Timoshin were placed in house arrest, and Alushkina and
Olkhova were
released on their own recognizance. On 14 January 2019, Vladimir
Alushkin was
transferred to house arrest. On 13 December he was taken into
custody in the
courtroom.
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
August of the same year, all congregations of Jehovah's
Witnesses were entered
into the list of forbidden extremist organizations.
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