In Birobidzhan, the criminal record of a Jehovah's Witness who was given a suspended sentence was expunged early

On June 30, the Birobidzhansky District Court granted the petition of 66-year-old Jehovah's Witness Igor Tsarev to revoke his probation and expunge his criminal record. This was reported on the website of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

The believer filed a petition because he had served more than half of his probationary period - the prosecutor and inspector confirmed that there were no violations during this period.

In February 2021, the Birobidzhansky District Court sentenced Tsarev to imprisonment for a period of two and a half years, suspended for a year, and with a probationary period of two years. He was found guilty under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). The courts of appeal and cassation confirmed the sentence of the believer.

The case against Tsarev was initiated in July 2019. According to investigators, believers “in order to spread the doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses by improving the skills of preaching service and other religious activities, studied ... the publication of Jehovah’s Witnesses “The Holy Scriptures / New World Translation,” which was recognized as extremist.” The charges were based on video materials obtained by FSB officers during covert filming of religious services.

• In 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. All organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were included in the list of prohibited ones, after which a stream of criminal cases against believers began.
• In October 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court clarified the application of “anti-extremist” legislation. The document, in particular, states that actions “consisting solely of the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including through individual or joint professing of religion, performing divine services or other religious rites and ceremonies, do not in themselves constitute a crime , provided for in Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (Participation in the activities of an extremist organization - OVD-Info ).” According to OVD-Info lawyer Tatyana Glushkova, these changes allow courts to terminate criminal cases brought against former members of liquidated religious organizations (for example, Jehovah's Witnesses).
• On June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights declared this ban and the subsequent persecution of believers illegal. From the court’s point of view, the decision to liquidate and criminal cases is based on an overly broad definition of “extremism”, which in Russian legislation “can be applied to absolutely peaceful forms of speech.”