Vasily Robak: The sentence is a “witness”

Vasily Robak The Jehovah's Witnesses prohibited in Russia Inlight.news/2017/04/blog-post_42.html

Today, the verdict of the local community of “Jehovah's Witnesses”, citizen of Denmies Dennis Kristensen, has been voiced in Orel. The court found him guilty of extremism. The preacher received a minimum punishment - six years of colony, the prosecutor's office demanded six months more. Kristensen was detained two years ago, later human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner. In the homeland of the convict, all this time is closely monitoring the process.

Today's decision is reported by the Russian Air Force Service. The court indicated that the foreigner took advantage of the authority of the spiritual leader and ensured the work of the community, despite its ban on the territory of the Russian Federation. At the entrance to the meeting room, Kristensen shouted that he was hoping that Russia would be observed in Russia to freedom of religion.

Recall that Jehovah's Witnesses are an international religious organization with headquarters in the United States. According to her official figures, in Russia, this religion is actively professed by 175 thousand people. In the spring of 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the organization of extremist and banned its activities in the territory of the Russian Federation. In August of the same year, the Ministry of Justice included her on the list of extremist organizations. Since then, believers have been persecuted in Russia. At the end of March 2018, it was reported that they were massively fleeing Finland.

Dennis Kristensen / bbc.com

Citizen Denmies Dennis Kristensen is 46 years old, he is a hereditary witness of Jehovah and has been involved in missionary activities since childhood. Since 2000, he lived in Murmansk, where he married a Russian woman, along with her in 2006 he moved to an eagle. In May 2017, in the house where local followers of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the FSB and the police were going to searches, and Dennis Kristensen was detained. Since then, the preacher has been contained in the investigative insulator.

The accusation stated that the head of Kristensen, knowing that in 2016 the court banned the Mro “Jehovah's Witnesses - Orel”, still continued to lead her, hold meetings, worship and distribute religious literature, including the one that was recognized as extremist.

All defense arguments were declared insolvent, despite the fact that Kristensen was not even an official member of the Oryol organization. When studying the authorized MRO documents, there is not a single mention of it. “Even the prosecution does not dispute this,” said Danish lawyer Anton Bogdanov. - They say that he was a "actual leader." Although the facts speak of the opposite. "

Kristensen himself admits that he is an elder, but insists that this is not a position, but "a lifestyle of a servant of God." He refuted accusations of convocating the assembly of liquidated MRO and conducting her worship during a judicial interrogation: “I never had a legal or actual attitude towards her, I never had either intent or the desire to resume the activities of this organization.”

Dennis Kristensen / YouTube.com

Since Kristensen is sentenced to imprisonment in a general regime colony, one day in a pre -trial detention center will be counted in 1.5 days in the colony. Therefore, the preacher must conduct another three years in prison. Earlier it was clarified that in the event of a conviction, relatives of Mr. Kristensen can turn to the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation with a request to send him to serve his term in Denmark.

“The second option is if Denmark asks for the exchange of this citizen for some Russian citizen who is serving a deadline in Denmark,” said Alim Bishenov, managing partner of the BMS Law Firm Law Firm. The issue of deportation to homeland is always solved by an individual agreement between the two countries

The process over Kristensen is widely discussed in the Danish media, where he is called an example of the persecution of religious minorities in the Russian Federation. In July 2017, the Memorial human rights organization recognized Kristensen as a political prisoner. The US State Department also included Kristensen in the list of political prisoners in Russia and last summer demanded to release him among other convicts for political and religious motives. In December last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Human Rights Council called the introduction of a religious organization to the list of extremist “complete nonsense”.

See also: Olga Zaitseva about the decision of the Armed Forces in the Jehovist case, the Supreme Court of Russia banned the head organization of the Jehovah's Witnesses Alegova, Alexei Muravyov about an attempt by officials in the theocratic space in Orenburg, a criminal case on Jehovah's Witnesses Mosgorsud confirmed the prohibition of Jehovah's Witnesses Putters filed The Moscow court closes the complaints of "Jehovah's Witnesses"