RUSSIAN
PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE REQUESTS 7 YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR JEHOVAH'S
WITNESS FROM
DZHANKOY
The
Russian prosecutor's office in the annexed Crimea asked for
seven years
incarceration for a resident of Dzhankoy, Sergei Filatov, who is
charged with
arranging the activity of a Jehovah's Witnesses religious
organization that is
forbidden in Russia. The court session was held on Tuesday, 25
February, in the
Dzhankoy district court that is under the control of the
Kremlin. This was
reported to Krym.Realii by Sergei Filatov himself.
"Today
the debates of the sides were held. And the prosecutor asked for
seven years
for alleged 'extremist activity.' That is, for religious belief,
for the fact
that a person believes in God. There is no essence of a crime,
no guilt.
Everything is made up. Every person who is standing here may
also suffer. . . .
The year 1951 has returned, the year 1937, which happened in
Russia,"
Filatov said.
As
Filatov's lawyer, Oleg Zakharchuk, reported, the session was
held behind closed
doors on the basis of a petition by the prosecution.
"On
the whole, I can conclude that falsification of the evidence in
this case
occurred from the very start. The charges were built on just
suppositions,
guesses. It was completely subjective. Obvious violations of the
norms of
Russian legislation and the norms of international law. . . .
Naturally, we
will try to restore the violated rights and freedoms both of Filatov and of all Jehovah's
Witnesses, not only in
Dzhankoy but also in Russia. This will be just another of the
cases, and I
predict that we will turn to the E.C.H.R. at that stage where it
will be
possible," Zakharchuk said.
Representatives
of the Russian prosecutor's office of Crimea have still not had
official
comment on the case.
The
next session is scheduled for Friday, 28 February. On that day,
Zakharchuk is
supposed to deliver his final word.
It
was reported earlier that Filatov is the father of four
children, and he
"moved to Crimea from Kherson because it was necessary to care
for his
sick daughter." (tr. by PDS, posted 26 February 2020)
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