PROVINCIAL COURT
LEAVES CHRISTENSEN IN CUSTODY UNTIL LATE NOVEMBER
by Denis Volin
The Orel
provincial court once again rejected the appeal of lawyers
against the
detention of Danish citizen Dennis Christensen, who is charged
with conducting
the activity of an extremist organization in Orel (282.2
Criminal Code of RF).
The adherent of
Jehovah's Witnesses, who are banned in Russia, has already been
in a SIZO
[pretrial detention cell] for four months, and in this time he
has been recognized
as a political prisoner and the embassy of Denmark has sent to
the court a
letter of guarantee in his defense. Nevertheless the court did
not find grounds
for releasing the Dane from custody. The court session was
observed by an Orel
News correspondent.
The session in
the provincial court on 28 September gathered as usual several
dozen supporters
of Dennis Christensen. He himself arrived "on air" by means of a
conference call link. Before the start of the trial, the Dane's
wife, Irina
Christensen, and also Jehovist devotees closed in on the monitor
located on the
wall of the courtroom. They tried to give the defendant
encouragement, who even
without this had a positive attitude. As always,
Christensen--dressed in a suit,
over which this time there was a warm jacket—answered the
questions of his
supporters in Danish and his wife translated. At some point the
Dane began
singing some melodic song and tapping on the table, which evoked
smiles and
laughter from those gathered around. However he was quickly
rebuked.
We recall that
this session was now the second one based on the appeal of the
lawyers against
the decision of the Soviet district court of 20 July, by which
the term of his
detention was extended to four months. The first one was held
last week. At it
the Dane's defense attorney managed to state the arguments of
his appeals and
to present the letter of guarantee from the embassy of Denmark
in Russia, in
which the diplomats assured the authorities that in the event of
the selection
of a less severe measure of prevention for him, Christensen
would not leave the
country and would not impede the course of the investigation. We
recall that,
on the basis of the investigation, Christensen is accused by the
F.S.B. that on
the base of the Jehovah's Witnesses, who are forbidden in Orel,
he revived the
activity of this organization as he continued to assemble people
for conducting
worship services. The security forces had declared that during
searches in the
meeting hall extremist literature was seized. The Dane was
arrested on 26 May,
immediately after the searches.
Christensen's
attorneys spoke out during the arguments at the session on 28
September. In
their statement they appealed to the European Convention on
Human Rights and
normative acts of the European Court of Human Rights.
"This is
not a question of holding a man in custody; it is a question of
the restriction
of the rights of a man to liberty. Only the right to life is
more precious than
this right," attorney Anton Bogdanov said in the debate. "It is
impermissible for investigative agencies to simplify the
procedure of
restricting this right merely because a man has a passport of a
citizen of
another state."
Bogdanov called
the court's attention to the fact that the "world community" and
"citizens of our country" will draw conclusions about rights and
freedoms in Russia based on the example of this case. He asked
the court to
replace the measure of prevention for Christensen with house
arrest or placing
him on bail of four million rubles.
The Dane himself
also joined in the arguments.
"I am an
honest and peaceful person who tries to live according to the
golden rule: do
unto others as you wish that they will do unto you. Therefore I
respect the
opinion of others, even if they do not agree with me. I consider
that each
person has the right to his own opinion. Proceeding from this I
do not want to,
and will not, influence witnesses," Dennis Christensen began the
presentation of his position and his words were, as always,
translated from
Danish by the translator. "I always have respected
representatives of
authority and I will respect them in the future, and therefore I
do not intend
to hinder the investigation. I have never done anything
criminal. This
contradicts everything that I believe and love, and on which I
have built my
life. In the gospel of Matthew it is said: Love the Lord as you
love yourself
and love your neighbor as yourself. I have always acted in this
way: I have
loved God and neighbor."
"What a
remarkable person," the voice of a pensioner, who was sitting
next to me,
rang out in the room. She nodded her head in sympathy, leaning
on a metal cane.
Meanwhile Christensen continued:
"I have
lived for many years in this splendid city with my wife, Irina.
Every spring
and every fall I have participated in volunteer work days
[subotniki]. Here in
Orel is my life and my work. I am an independent businessman
(carpenter—ed.
note). Since 2009 I have done much to build a good business and
to develop
relations with clients. They know me as a peace-loving and
honest person on
whom one can depend. In addition, I have many friends in Orel
who are very dear
to me. The F.S.B. has tarnished my honor and good name by means
of false and
contradictory accusations. But these are false accusations and I
intend to
prove that."
Christensen
assured the court that he does not intend to flee from Russia,
since he wants
to live in Orel and raise his family with his Russian wife. "I
will do
everything possible in this judicial arena so that in this case
truth will
triumph," the Dane declared. He also described how in the SIZO
his health
has deteriorated sharply. There is a suspicion of a hernia. The
Dane has a bad
back and legs, but there are no qualified doctors in the
detention cell.
"It is very
cold and damp in the cell. All day I walk about the room in a
winter overcoat
and hat and at night I wear all available clothing. I became
sick and developed
a cold. But when I appeal to the medics that they would give me
medicine for a
sore throat, I find out that they do not have medicines and
cannot help
me," Dennis Christensen explained. He also added that he showers
in the
SIZO twice a week and in the remainder time he washes out of a
bottle with cold
water.
"Profoundly
esteemed mister judge, I ask you to rescind the decision about
my being held in
custody and to select for me another form of restriction of
liberty. Let me be
with my wife," Christenson asked.
The next to
speak was the prosecutor, or as the translator called Elena
Polukhina, the
"statsadvokat." However the statement was not as emotional
as the
preceding one. Polukhina noted that she considers the
decision of the Soviet
district court to be legal and logical and she asks for it
to be left in force.
The prosecutor said that there are no grounds for changing
the measure of
prevention to a less harsh one. As regards the conditions of
detention in the
SIZO, Polukhina noted that "you have the right to send an
appeal to the
prosecutor's office," which will take action in its turn. As
needed, it
seems. After the judge
went off into a conference room, Christensen's supporters
again gathered at the
monitor in order to talk with him. "How many
times are you fed, Dennis?" The Dane
indicated that he was fed three times a day. "Sechka"
[buckwheat gruel] was the only word that Christensen uttered
in Russian,
which greatly confused the greater part of those present.
Others began to
explain to them that this is a fermented dish of prison
fare, a distinct kind of
kasha. At this point
the judge returned to the courtroom. He quickly announced
that the decision of
the district court remained in force and thus the Dane will
remain in the SIZO
at least until the end of November, continuing to eat sechka
and to wear an
overcoat and hat and also to wash in cold water out of a
bottle. (tr. by PDS,
posted 30 September 2017)
Foreign
Jehovah's Witness kept in custody in Orel
September 21, 2017
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