Courts in Crimea announced sentences to two more followers of Jehovah's Witnesses

In Crimea, sentences were announced against Sergei Filatov and Artem Gerasimov, followers of Jehovah's Witnesses. As the religious organization reports on its website, the court sentenced Filatov to six years in a general regime colony, and imposed a fine on Gerasimov.

Judge Maria Ermakova of the Dzhankoy District Court found Sergei Filatov guilty under the article on organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). As Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia write, the prosecution believes that Filatov is “undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the state.”

Filatov was accused of holding meetings of believers in his house, speaking on religious topics and disseminating the ideas of followers of Jehovah's Witnesses.

One of the proofs of Filatov’s guilt was an audio recording organized by an operative of the local FSB Directorate, in which Filatov and other believers discussed religious topics.

According to the religious organization, there are significant violations in the case: copies were used instead of original evidence, experts in the case did not confirm their qualifications, as well as other violations. At the same time, as believers write, the court rejected all defense requests to verify the evidence.

Another believer, Artem Gerasimov, was sentenced to a fine of 400 thousand rubles by the judge of the Yalta City Court, Vladimir Romanenko. He was also found guilty under the article on organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).

The prosecution demanded that Gerasimov be sentenced to six and a half years in prison. He himself, as Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia write, does not agree with the verdict and considers it unfair.

The Russian government, including through the Ministry of Justice, has repeatedly stated that the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited. However, this is already the 30th conviction against Jehovah's Witnesses. How many more such sentences will it take to stop the persecution of peaceful, law-abiding citizens?

— the religious organization cites on its website a comment from the representative of the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses Yaroslav Sivulsky about the verdict against Gerasimov.

• In the debate on February 25, the prosecutor asked to sentence Filatov to seven years in a maximum security colony. The hearings in his case were held behind closed doors due to complaints from the main prosecution witness about calls from unknown numbers.
• In November 2018, massive searches took place in the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses in Dzhankoy. Investigative actions took place at several dozen addresses. Only Sergei Filatov was detained; extremist literature and reference books on psychology and recruitment were allegedly found in his possession.
• On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court recognized the “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” as an extremist organization, liquidated it and banned its activities in Russia. In August, all Jehovah's Witnesses organizations were added to the list of prohibited organizations. After this, a stream of criminal cases began.