The court declared illegal the detention in a pre-trial detention center of an elderly Jehovah's Witness, sentenced to 6 years in prison

The Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Kemerovo declared illegal the detention of 66-year-old Jehovah's Witness Yuri Savelyev, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison under an extremist article. This was reported on the website of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

The court considered the last of four cassation appeals against the extension of preventive measures during the consideration of the case in the first instance. The Court of Cassation ruled that Savelyev was kept in custody from October 22, 2019 to December 16, 2020 illegally.

On December 16, 2020, the Leninsky District Court found Yuri Savelyev guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced him to 6 years in a general regime colony. Savelyev appealed this decision and is currently in a pre-trial detention center, awaiting an appeal. It is scheduled for April 5.

• 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 against representatives of the confession began.