HEAD OF "VISSARION COMMUNITY" MOVED TO SERBSKY INSTITUTE FOR PSYCHIATRIC EXPERT ANALYSIS
Interfax-Religiia, 23 October 2020
Lawyers for the defendants in the case of the "Church of the Last Testament" report that the head of the community, Sergei Torop (Vissarion), was transferred to the Serbsky Institute.
"According to our information, Torop was transferred into the Serbsky Institute and is now located there. We will try to visit him there. The other detainees are still in the Butyrka investigation facility," the lawyers' Telegram channel reports.
The defendants were previously moved to Moscow for conducting psychiatric examinations because the investigation refused to conduct them in Novosibirsk.
The Church of the Last Testament is a religious movement, which was founded in 1991 by a resident of Krasnoyarsk territory, Sergei Torop, who calls himself Vissarion. The organization received its current name in 1995 and was registered in the Ministry of Justice. Adherents of the movement also call themselves the "Vissarion Community." They reside in several settlements in the Kuragino district.
On 21 September, security forces arrested Torop and another two leaders, Vadim Redkin and Vladimir Vedernikov. A court placed all three in pretrial custody until 22 November. They were charged under part 1 of article 239 of the Criminal Code of the R.F. and points a and b of part 3 of article 111 of CC RF (creation of a religious association whose activity involves use of force on citizens, causing serious harm to the health of two or more persons). At the same time, Vedernikov was charged only under part 1 of article 239 of CC RF. Defense attorneys appealed the detention.
On 25 September it was learned that the prosecutor's office of Krasnoyarsk territory sent to the court a lawsuit for the liquidation of this religious organization. The Krasnoyarsk territorial court scheduled its consideration for 26 October. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 October 2020)
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