Jehovah's Witness acquitted in Yoshkar-Ola

On July 20, 2012, the Yoshkar-Ola City Court of the Republic of Mari El delivered an acquittal in the case under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (inciting hatred or enmity on grounds of attitude to religion) in relation to Maxim Kalinin. Recall that the case against Kalinin was initiated in August 2010. He was accused of distributing literature included in the Federal list of extremist materials, holding public sermons, as well as in the implementation of coordinating activities.

This is the second acquittal against a Jehovah's Witness. On December 22, 2011, the Supreme Court of the Altai Republic recognized Alexander Kalistratova not guilty of a crime under Part 1 of Art. 282 of the Criminal Code, decided to dismiss the case for lack of corpus delicti and recognized Kalistratov's right to rehabilitation.

On October 10, 2012, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Mari El confirmed that all charges against Maxim Kalinin were dropped, and his acquittal came into force.

Sources

• The second criminal case against a Jehovah's Witness also ended with a verdict of not guilty // Communication from the press service of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. 2012. July 20.
• The Supreme Court of Mari El confirmed the innocence of a Jehovah's Witness // Communication from the press service of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. 2012. October 11.