TRIAL
OF
JEHOVAH'S WITNESS FROM DENMARK BEGINS IN OREL
Jehovah's
Witnesses
in Russia, 19 February 2018
On
19 February
2018, in the Zheleznodorozhnyi district court of the city of
Orel, a
preliminary hearing in the criminal case of Danish subject
Dennis Christensen,
a Jehovah's Witness by religious confession, accused of
"arranging the
activity of an extremist organization" (part 1 of article 282.2
of the
Criminal Code of RF), began. Dennis has been held in custody in
a local SIZO [pretrial
cell] since May 2017.
In
the evening
of 25 May 2017, the street around a building belonging to one of
the believers
was filled with automobiles and busses with armed people in
masks, OMON troops.
Under the direction of an investigator of the F.S.B., a group
entered the
building and blocked the believers located within it.
Examinations,
interrogations, and searches continued in the homes until the
next morning.
Dennis Christensen was arrested.
There
are not
any victims or casualties in his case. Nobody ever heard from
him words of
hostility or hatred. The entire fault of this peaceful man
consists in the fact
that he confesses the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, the
registered
organizations of whom were liquidated by the Russian Supreme
Court.
The
main
occupation of Dennis Christensen in Orel was installation of
wooden cabinets.
He is married to a local resident, Irina Christensen, and
therefore he was in the
city of Orel for personal reasons and not upon the invitation of
any
organization.
One
out of every
393 residents of Denmark confesses the religion of Jehovah's
Witnesses. In the
city of Holbaek (Denmark) there is a huge Bible Center of this
religion. The
royal embassy of Denmark, seeking for Christensen a milder form
of restraint,
offered the court assurances that it would not aid in his
departure beyond the
borders of the Russian federation. However the court left him in
custody for
the entire period of the investigation.
The
preliminary
hearing will continue on 21 February 2018. Lawyers are
petitioning for the
exclusion from the case of a number of unacceptable pieces of
evidence. (tr. by
PDS, posted 20 February 2018)
Background
article:
Danish
Jehovah's Witness kept in jail another time
November 20, 2017
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