CRIMINAL CASE FOR EXTREMISM OPENED FOR ACTIVE ADHERENT OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN JEWISH AUTONOMOUS OBLAST
According to information of the prosecutor's office of the oblast, from February 2017 to May 2018 the suspect organized meetings and religious performances and collected donations for the expenses of the organization that is banned in Russia.
A criminal case was initiated with respect to a resident of Birobidzhan, who continued the activity of the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses, that is forbidden in Russia, the press service of the prosecutor's office of the Jewish autonomous oblast (EAO) reported on Friday.
"A criminal case was initiated regarding the commission of a crime of an extremist nature by a resident of the city of Birobidzhan. . . . The illegal actions of the suspect were expressed in the calling of meetings, planning of religious activity, collection of financial resources in the form of donations for the expenses of a religious organization that had been prohibited by a court, and also conducing mass events intended for distribution of extremist literature and materials of extremist contents," the report says.
The illegal activity of the man was conducted from February 2017 to May 2018.
The religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses was found to be extremist and prohibited in 2017. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 May 2018)
CRIMINAL CASE OF A CRIME OF EXTREMIST NATURE COMMITTED BY A RESIDENT OF BIROBIDZHAN OPENED
Prosecutor's office of Jewish autonomous oblast, 18 May 2018
The prosecutor's office of the Jewish autonomous oblast [Evreiskaia Avtonomnaia Oblast—EAO] ruled that a decision of an investigative agency of the Directorate of the Russian F.S.B. for the Jewish autonomous oblast to initiate a criminal case regarding a crime of an extremist nature (part 1, article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of RF—planning the activity of an extremist organization), committed by a resident of the oblast center, was legal and logical.
According to materials of the criminal case, a resident of the city of Birobidzhan, in the period from February 2017 to May 2018, conducted deliberate, vigorous actions of an organizational character directed at resumption and continuation of the illegal activity of a forbidden religious organization, which had been found by a court of the EAO in 2017 to be extremist and its activity banned on the territory of the Russian Federation.
The illegal actions of the suspect were expressed in convening meetings, organizing religious performances, collecting financial resources in the form of donations for the expenses of a religious organization that has been prohibited by a court, and also conducting mass events aimed at distributing extremist literature and materials of extremist contents.
The prosecutor's office has taken control of the investigation of the criminal case.
Punishment for commission of the aforesaid serious crime is provided by the Criminal Code of the RF in the form of a fine of from 400,000 to 800,000 rubles or the total of salary or other income of the convict for a period of from two to four years or incarceration for a term of from six to ten years, with deprivation of the right to occupy certain offices or to engage in certain activity for a period of up to ten years and restriction of liberty for a term of from one to two years. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 May 2018)
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