APPEALS COURT LEAVES HALF-MILLION FINE OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESS IN FORCE
Yesterday an appeal in the case of Anatoly Tokarev was considered in Kirov oblast court.
On 14 January, the oblast court made the decision to leave in force the verdict of the court of the first instance in the case of a Jehovah's Witness (he had been sentenced to a fine of 500,000 rubles). We note here that the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses is forbidden in the Russian Federation.
Representatives of this organization described how during the debates, the defendant, Anatoly Tokarev, declared that he does not consider himself guilty of arranging the activity of an extremist organization (282.2 CC RF) and financing extremist activity (282.3 CC RF). He is sure that he did not do anything extremist, nothing that could undermine the security of the country and create a threat to the constitutional order. All he did was just read prayers with other people, sing, and discuss biblical teachings.
"The court did not explain in any way how men and women, including many who are elderly, who have assembled together for prayer, singing songs, and group discussions, pose a threat to the security of an enormous state," Tokarev thinks.
Despite the arguments presented by the defense,
a panel of
judges (Mikhail Obukhov, Liubov Zhuravleva, and Roman Bronnikov)
decided to
leave the verdict in force. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 January 2021)
Background article:
Jehovah's
Witness of Kirov fined as agent of national organization
October 23, 2020
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