JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CONVICTED IN ULYANOVSK
Today, 8 October, a court issued a verdict for six residents of Ulyanovsk, members of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is forbidden in Russia.
By a decision of the Supreme Court of 2017, the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia was liquidated because of extremist activity. A 54-year-old unemployed resident of Ulyanovst, knowing about this, organized meetings, engaged in preaching, and read literature that had been ruled to be extremist. In addition, he collected donations and disbursed them for the needs of the Ulyanovsk department of the religious organization.
Other members of the group—so-called "elders," "ministerial servants," and "pioneers"—using conspiratorial methods participated in meetings, engaged in disseminating the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, and collected reports. F.S.B. agents put an end to the activity of the organization. This happened in February of last year.
The defendants were found guilty on the basis
of part 2 of
article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and
they were
sentenced to suspended prison terms of from two and a half to
three and a half
years. The prosecutor's office had insisted on real time of from
three to seven
years in a penal colony of general regime, and therefore it
intends to appeal
the sentence. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 October 2020)
CASE OF ZELENSKY AND OTHERS IN ULYANOVSK
Announcement of the sentence
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 8 October 2020
Judge Galina Soshkina of the Zasviyazhsky district court of Ulyanovsk found all six guilty on the basis of part 2 of article 282.2 of CC RF. Sergei Mysin was sentenced to punishment in the form of four years suspended prison term plus ten months of restriction of liberty (his actions were categorized under part 2 of article 282.2 CC RF). His wife, Natalia Mysina, was sentenced to a punishment in the form of two years and six months suspended prison term plus seven months of restriction of liberty. Mikhail Zelensky was sentenced to a punishment in the form of three years suspended prison term plus eight months of restriction of liberty. Andrei Tabakov was sentenced to a punishment in the form of three years suspended prison term plus eight months of restriction of liberty. Khoren Khachikian was sentenced to a punishment in the form of two years and six months suspended prison term plus seven months of restriction of liberty. The believers' property was not confiscated and its impoundment was lifted. (tr. by PDS, posted 8 October 2020)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.