The court of appeal confirmed the conditional sentence for a father of many children from Asha Vadim Fedorov

 RUSSIA


The court of appeal confirmed the conditional sentence for a father of many children from Asha Vadim Fedorov

July 28, 2023 Chelyabinsk Region


On July 27, 2023, the board of the Chelyabinsk Regional Court approved the sentence to Vadim Fedorov - 6 years probation for reading and discussing the Bible, which law enforcement agencies and the court considered "organizing the activities of an extremist organization."


Before the appellate ruling was issued, the believer declared the absurdity of the accusations: “The presence of extremist motives in my actions has not been proven. I performed all my actions solely for the purpose of exercising the right to a joint confession of faith, guaranteed by Art. 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.


In the spring of 2023, the Ashinsky City Court of the Chelyabinsk Region found Vadim guilty of extremism . According to the prosecution, in the course of divine services, believers are not allowed to read even the non-prohibited literature of Jehovah's Witnesses, it is unacceptable to use the vocabulary generally accepted in this religion and discuss dogma. Fedorov appealed the verdict, calling it contrary to the law, but the regional court did not satisfy this complaint. The verdict has entered into force, but the believer has the right to appeal against it in the cassation procedure.


The verdict and the appeal ruling run counter to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, according to which the worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses do not in themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.


To date, 14 Jehovah's Witnesses have become defendants in criminal cases in the Chelyabinsk region. 11 of them, including older women, have already been given suspended sentences and fines.


Fedorov case in Asha


Brief history of the case


In June 2021, the first search was carried out in Asha at the home of the father of many children, Vadim Fedorov. In April 2022, the investigator of the Investigative Committee Chepenko opened a criminal case against the believer for "organizing the activities of an extremist organization." On his initiative, in June 2022, Vadim was searched again, after which they took a written undertaking not to leave him. In October 2022, Fedorov's case went to court. The prosecutor filed a motion to recuse the judge. Alexey Rustamshin entered the case. In April 2023, the court sentenced Fedorov to 6 years probation. The Court of Appeal later upheld the verdict.


Criminal case


Region:

Chelyabinsk Region

Locality:

Asha

What is suspected:

“supervised a meeting of followers of the religious teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Ashinsky district ... organized the collection of reports on preaching activities”

Case number:

12202750030000016

Initiated:

April 29, 2022

Current stage of the case:

verdict took effect

Investigating:

Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2(1)

Case number in court:

1-8/2023 (1-237/2022)

Court of First Instance:

Ashinsky city court of the Chelyabinsk region

Judge of the Court of First Instance:

Alexey Rustamshin

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