In Karachay-Cherkessia, the case of Jehovah's Witnesses was brought to court

Alexey Pasynkov is accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code.

On November 1, 2023, the Urupsky District Court of Karachay-Cherkessia received the case of Jehovah's Witness Alexey Pasynkov, he is accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the organization’s activities).

On December 8, 2022, Pasynkov became a suspect; on March 3, 2023, a search was carried out in his apartment in Stavropol; later in March and April, searches in the case were also carried out in the village of Kardonikskaya. The case was investigated by the Zelenchuk interdistrict investigative department of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for Karachay-Cherkessia.

According to investigators, Pasynkov, among other things, led religious services, maintained contacts with Jehovah’s Witnesses in different regions, and also recruited Irina Perefilyeva from the village of Mednogorskoye (Karachay-Cherkess Republic) to the activities of the banned organization.

In 2021, a case was initiated against Perefileva under CC. 1.1 and 2 art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (involvement in an extremist organization and participation in its activities). In connection with this case, searches were carried out at the home of Alexey Pasynkov, as well as his brothers Dmitry and Ilya from Mednogorsk. On August 28, 2023, the Urupsky District Court sentenced Perefileva (five and a half years of suspended imprisonment) and Svetlana Gergokova.

Jehovah's Witnesses are accused of involvement in the activities of an extremist organization due to the fact that in April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court decided to recognize the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations as extremist. We believe that this decision, which entailed mass persecution of believers under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, had no legal grounds, and we regard it as a 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 contradict the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and demanded that criminal cases under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Jehovah's Witnesses and release believers in prison.

Sources

• Pasynkov's case in Mednogorsk. Information from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2023. December 14.
• Criminal case card No. 1-28/2023 (1-108/2022;) // Urupsky District Court of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. 2023. March 1.