58-YEAR OLD JEHOVAH'S WITNESS ARRESTED IN COURTROOM FOR DISTRIBUTING RELIGIOUS LITERATURE
An elder of the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in the settlement of Briukhovets of Krasnodar territory, Vladimir Eltavsky, was sentenced on 1 July to 12 days behind bars on a fabricated charge of distribution of books contained in the federal list of extremist materials of the RF, the press service of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia reports.
"It is shocking that in issuing such a disproportionately severe sentence, the judge of the Briukhovets district court, Dmitry Mosypan, violated a number of standards of legislation, including the right to legal defense," a representative of the Administrative Center of JW, Yaroslav Sivulsky, noted.
The believer Vladimir Eltavsky learned that an administrative case against him was being considered in court less than an hour before the hearing, from the bailiff who arrived at his house in order to take him by force to the court.
The case on article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Violations of Law of RF ("large scale distribution of extremist materials") was opened by the prosecutor of the Briukhovets district, A. Fomenko. The basis for the charge was false evidence from witnesses who maintain that "in March 2015" Eltavsky allegedly gave them books with the titles "Does God Really Care for Us?" and "What does the Bible really teach?"
Judge Mosypan ignored the fact that the term for holding one administratively accountable had elapsed in June. In addition, in violation of fundamental human rights, Judge Mosypan refused Eltavsky the right to qualified legal help (article 48 of the constitution of the RF) and also the right to become acquainted with documents and materials immediately affecting his rights and liberties (article 24 of the constitution of the RF).
In the end, the judge unreasonably gave the believer an extremely harsh penalty entailing incarceration. (tr by PDS, posted 4July 2015)
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