CASSATION COURT ORDERS RECONSIDERATION OF VERDICT FOR JEHOVAH'S WITNESS FROM NOVOSIBIRSK
On 24 November, the Eighth cassation court of general jurisdiction overturned a decision of the Novosibirsk oblast court, which had confirmed the verdict for 67-year-old Jehovah's Witness Yury Savelev. This was reported on the website reporting the prosecution of believers in Russia.
The Savelev case will be considered for a second time at the appellate stage, with a new panel of judges.
The believer was sentenced on 16 December 2020 by the Lenin district court to six years in a penal colony. The elderly man was found to be guilty on the basis of the article concerning arranging the activity of an extremist organization (part 1, article 282.2 CC). In April 2021 the Novosibirsk oblast court left without change the decision regarding real prison time for the Jehovah's Witness, changing only the additional punishment, which imposed restrictions on Savelev's activity after he serves his term.
The cassation court overruled this decision. Since the Jehovah's Witness's sentence now is considered not to have legal effect, the believer may not petition for amelioration of the punishment or ask for probationary early release. At the same time, he has been in prison for more than three years now.
In October 2021, the plenum of the Supreme Court explained the application of "anti-extremist" legislation. In the document, in particular, it says that activities "consisting exclusively of exercise . . . of the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religious confession, including by means of individual or group profession of religion and conduct of worship services or other religious rituals and ceremonies, in and of themselves do not constitute the elements of the crime specified by part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the R.F. (concerning participation in activity of an extremist organization—OVD-Info)." OVD-Info lawyer Tatiana Glushkova called this the most significant change in the possibility for courts to dismiss cases opened against former members of liquidated organizations (like the Jehovah's Witnesses' organizations). (tr. by PDS, posted 1 December 2021)
Russia Religion News Current News Items
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,
https://www2.stetson.edu/religious-news/