For reading the Bible, a court in Novosibirsk sentenced Dmitry Dolzhikov to a penal colony, but changed the punishment to forced labor

 RUSSIA

For reading the Bible, a court in Novosibirsk sentenced Dmitry Dolzhikov to a penal colony, but changed the punishment to forced labor

July 3, 2023 Novosibirsk Region

On June 30, 2023, the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Novosibirsk, Olga Kovalenko, found 45-year-old Dmitry Dolzhikov guilty of extremism, sentenced him to three years in prison and a year of restriction of freedom, but the deprivation of liberty was replaced with forced labor. Taking into account the period of detention of Dmitry under arrest, in fact, he will have to serve about two years of forced labor.

Dmitry Dolzhikov does not plead guilty: “I carefully read the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2017 [on the liquidation of legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia], but I have not seen anywhere that the court imposed a ban on practicing the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses and believers would be banned worship God, perform religious services, pray and sing religious songs. There has never been such a ban." The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed. A written undertaking not to leave was taken from the believer.

The criminal case against Dmitry Dolzhikov was initiated in May 2020. According to law enforcement officers, the believer “intentionally, out of extremist motives, took part in the activities of a religious association ... in the form of participation in religious meetings and meetings of an extremist organization, holding conversations with residents of Chelyabinsk, showing and watching educational videos.” This is how the security forces regarded the peaceful services, at which believers read and discussed the Bible. Two years after the initiation of the case, a search was carried out in Dolzhikov's house, the FSB officers brought Dmitry from Chelyabinsk to Novosibirsk, where he was imprisoned in a pre-trial detention center, where he spent 2.5 months. The security forces persuaded the man to cooperate, threatening to "ruin his life." The believer spent more than 6 months under house arrest.

In November 2022, the case went to trial. The defense has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the documents from the case materials are dated mainly from 2007-2016, which does not apply to the imputed Dolzhikov period. The whole accusation was based on the testimony of a secret witness and two Orthodox activists who openly expressed hostility towards the Jehovah's Witnesses confession and, according to Dmitry, told lies, misleading the court.

The believer emphasized that he was being persecuted solely for his faith, although it was she who helped him to be a respectable member of society. “The Bible corrected my quick temper, taught me how to solve problems peacefully,” says Dmitry. “The Bible has helped to have a happy and strong family, and in 15 years of marriage, my wife and I have not had such quarrels that would prompt us to regret marriage or consider divorce.”

Due to criminal prosecution, Dmitry's wife has become aggravated by a serious illness, and due to restrictions, they cannot fully take care of their elderly parents. According to him, the believer coped with difficulties with letters from fellow believers, prayer and support from relatives and friends in court.

In Novosibirsk, eight Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted for their faith, two of them, pensioners Yuri Savelyev and Alexander Seredkin , were sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Human rights activists unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Emily Baran, an expert on Russia and church-state relations, says : “Russia continues to view this religious community as dangerous extremists, despite a complete lack of evidence to support this claim. Jehovah's Witnesses continue to face criminal prosecution and lengthy prison terms for actions that amount to simply talking about their faith with each other and with local residents.”

Dolzhikov case in Novosibirsk

Brief history of the case

Back in 2020, Dmitry Dolzhikov became one of the defendants in a criminal case for faith, which was initiated by the investigative department of the Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region. In May 2020, when the believer had already moved to another region, his case was separated into a separate proceeding, which was later repeatedly suspended and resumed. His new place of residence was searched in September 2022. Dolzhikov was interrogated and then taken back to Novosibirsk, where he was placed in a pre-trial detention center for 2.5 months. Since November 2022, the believer has been under house arrest. The court began considering his case in December of that year. The case included the testimony of a secret witness and two Orthodox “sectarian” activists, and many materials of the case did not concern Dolzhikov, but other believers from Novosibirsk. In June 2023, the court sentenced the believer to 3 years in prison and 1 year of restriction of freedom, but the deprivation of liberty was replaced with forced labor.

Criminal case

Region:

Novosibirsk Region

Locality:

Novosibirsk

What is suspected:

What he is suspected of: “intentionally, out of extremist motives, he took part in the activities of a religious association ... in the form of participation in religious meetings and meetings of an extremist organization, conducting conversations ... demonstrations and watching educational videos”

Case number:

42002500019000013

Initiated:

May 13, 2020

Current stage of the case:

trial in appellate court

Investigating:

Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2(2)

Case number in court:

1-51/2023 (1-737/2022)

Court of First Instance:

Leninsky District Court of Novosibirsk

Judge:

Olga Kovalenko

In the photo: Dmitry Dolzhikov with his wife Marina on the day of the verdict.