Dennis Christensen sentenced to six years in prison

A court in Orel sentenced Dane Christensen to a real term for leading a banned local organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.

On February 6, 2019, the Zheleznodorozhny Orel Court found Dennis Christensen guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced him to six years in prison to be served in a penal colony. A Danish citizen was convicted for organizing the activities of the local community of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Christensen was arrested on May 25, 2017 and taken into custody the next day. During the entire investigation and trial, he was in a pre-trial detention center. his complaint about the choice of this preventive measure It was not possible to appeal the arrest in Russia; the ECHR communicated in November 2017. Consideration of the Christensen case in court began only in April 2018.

The investigation insisted that Christensen organized religious meetings and services, and also raised money for the functioning of a banned local religious organization and carried out preaching activities, coordinating his actions with the recognized extremist Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, and also involved new members in the community. The prosecutor requested six and a half years of imprisonment for him in a penal colony.

We consider Christensen's persecution and conviction to be unlawful. The local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Orel was declared extremist in 2016, and the Russian Supreme Court upheld the decision of the regional court. However, we believe that the liquidation of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses for extremism, the persecution of members of their communities and the banning of texts have no legal basis at all and are a manifestation of religious discrimination.

Sources

• Russian court sentences Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years for extremism // BBC Russian Service. February 6, 2019