The court acquitted Jehovah's Witness from Porkhov

Aleksey Khabarov, who was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization, was acquitted.

On June 29, 2022, the Porkhov District Court of the Pskov Region delivered an acquittal to Jehovah's Witness Alexei Khabarov, who was charged under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).

The prosecutor's office appealed the verdict.

The public prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to three and a half years in prison in a penal colony with restriction of liberty for six months. He requested the same punishment during the last consideration of the case in 2021.

The Khabarov case was initiated on March 28, 2019, after which searches took place at Khabarov’s place, as well as at Sergey Komissarov’s, who was suspected of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). The Khabarov case was separated into a separate proceeding in 2020 and sent to the prosecutor in June, but then returned to the investigation; the indictment was confirmed only in August. In November 2020, the court began considering the case and in September 2021 sentenced Khabarov to a suspended sentence. On November 26, 2021, the Pskov Regional Court overturned the verdict and sent the case for a new trial in a different composition of the court of first instance. The retrial of the case began on January 24, 2022.

We welcome Khabarov's acquittal. Recall that, according to the clarifications of the Supreme Court of October 28, 2021, the courts, considering cases under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, must establish what specific socially dangerous actions were committed by the defendant and what their significance is for the continuation or resumption of the activities of an extremist organization, as well as the motives for committing these actions. In addition, the Supreme Court pointed out that in the event of a ban on a religious organization, the individual or joint performance of religious rites by its former members should not in itself be interpreted as participation in an extremist organization.

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 were extremist. We believe that this decision, which entailed the mass persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, had no legal grounds and became a clear manifestation of religious discrimination. In June 2022, the ECHR issued a ruling on the complaint of Jehovah's Witnesses, in which it recognized that the ban on their materials and organizations and the persecution of believers are contrary to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and demanded that criminal cases be dropped under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Jehovah's Witnesses and release imprisoned believers.

Sources

• In the Pskov region, a court fully acquitted Jehovah's Witness Alexei Khabarov. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2022. June 29.