The court overturned the decision to return the case of Jehovah's Witnesses to the prosecutor's office

The case of Sergei Ledenev was again sent to court for consideration on the merits.

On February 4, 2020, it became known that in the Kamchatka Territory, the Kamchatka Regional Court overturned the decision of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court, which on December 12, 2019 returned to the prosecutor’s office the criminal case of a follower of the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses Sergey Ledenev. The case was again referred to the city court for consideration on the merits. The believer is accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of an extremist organization).

The reason for initiating a criminal case was that, according to the investigation, from September to December 2018, in an apartment in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Ledenev organized, observing secrecy measures, the activities of the banned religious association Jehovah's Witnesses. Collective worship services and training sessions were held there. Ledenev was detained in December 2018, and a written undertaking not to leave was taken from him, which was later replaced with an obligation to appear.

Recall that in January 2020, the Kamchatka Regional Court also overturned the decision of the Elizovsky District Court, which returned to the prosecutor the case of Jehovah’s Witnesses Konstantin and Snezhana Bazhenov (b. 1977) and Vera Zolotova (b. 1946), who were also accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization . Earlier, the case of Jehovah's Witnesses Mikhail and Elena Popov from Vilyuchinsk was submitted to the court .

Jehovah's Witnesses are accused of involvement in the activities of an extremist organization due to the fact that in April 2017 the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were extremist. We believe that this decision, which entailed the mass persecution of believers under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, had no legal grounds, and we regard it as a manifestation of religious discrimination.

Sources

• The Kamchatka Regional Court annulled the return of the case of Sergei Ledenev to the prosecutor. The Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court will begin hearings on the merits. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. February 4, 2020