In the Primorsky Territory, the case of Jehovah's Witnesses has been brought to court • Sova • RIMA

In the Primorsky Territory, the case of Jehovah's Witnesses has been brought to court

Anton Virich is accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code.

On October 27, 2023, the Pozharsky District Court of the Primorsky Territory received the case of Anton Virich, a Jehovah’s Witness from the city of Uzhur in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The believer is accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an extremist organization).

Viric was detained on July 11, 2023; it later became clear that he became a defendant in a criminal case. After his arrest, the believer was informed that since February 11, 2022, he had been under recognizance not to leave the place—Virich himself said that he did not know about this and had not received relevant notifications. After his arrest, Virich was taken to the Primorsky Territory, and then on July 14 he was placed in pre-trial detention center-4 in the city of Spassk-Dalniy. The believer is accused in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses from Luchegorsk Nikolai Dikhtyar, Andrei Lyakhov, Yuri Ponomarenko and Oleg Sergeev.

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

Criminal case card No. 1-37/2024 (1-217/2023) // Pozharsky District Court of Primorsky Territory. 2023. October.
The Virich case in Luchegorsk. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2023. October.
Jehovah's Witness Anton Virich was arrested in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. He was taken to a pre-trial detention center 5,000 kilometers from the place of detention. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2023. July 28.