The sentence of Jehovah's Witness Golik was confirmed

Jehovah's Witness from Birobidzhan Golik received a suspended sentence under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code.

On March 16, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region upheld the sentence handed down to Jehovah's Witness Evgeniy Golik. He was sentenced to two and a half years of probation with restriction of freedom for a year under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of an extremist organization).

Golik was sentenced on January 20, 2021 by the Birobidzhan District Court. The prosecutor demanded that the believer be sentenced to four years in a penal colony.

The initiation of the case became known in December 2019. According to investigators, while continuing the activities of the banned local community, Golik practiced " studying the religious literature of Jehovah's Witnesses among the participants in the meeting ," including the Bible in the New World translation, which was recognized as extremist.

The Birobidzhan local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses was declared extremist on October 3, 2016 (even before a general ban was issued on the activities of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 other Russian organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses). We believe that the bans of Jehovah's Witness communities in Russia are unlawful and a manifestation of discrimination.

Sources

• The court of the Jewish Autonomous Region confirmed the conviction of Yevgeny Golik - 2.5 years suspended for talking about the Bible. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2021. March 16.