In the Altai Territory, Jehovah's witness was sentenced to 6 years in colony

In the Altai Territory, the Rubtsovsky City Court sentenced the 53-year-old Jehovah witness Andrei Danielyan to the six years of a general regime colony. He was found guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, reports the website of "Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia."

Danielyan was detained in May last year. He fell under the raid during a special operation of special services, which the authorities called "Armageddon". Then mass searches took place among believers in several settlements of the Altai Territory.

Initially, Danielyan was charged with a milder article about participation in the activities of an extremist organization, but later the prosecution was tightened.

He considers the accusations unlawful. “Based on the indictment, we can conclude that it is forbidden to preach, praying, discussing spiritual topics and dating also forbidden. Can all this be a corpus delicti and what can be done in accordance with Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation? Can the question arise, how then to believing to worship God?” Danielyan said in court.

The "Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses" has been recognized as an extremist organization in Russia since 2017, its activities were banned. It is not prohibited to preach the teachings of Jehovah's witnesses. However, believers continue to massively pursue criminal cases, since it is believed that they "continue the activities of a prohibited organization."

• In June, the ECHR recognized the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses and the persecution of believers illegal. The European Court also ruled that in Russian legislation there is a too broad concept of "extremism", which is why it "can be applied to absolutely peaceful forms of utterance." The court decision will not be executed due to the decree of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin on the failure to fulfill the decisions of the ECHR adopted after March 15, 2022.