Two years suspended for believing in Jehovah God — appeal upholds sentence for Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk

 RUSSIA


Two years suspended for believing in Jehovah God — appeal upholds sentence for Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk

July 3, 2023 Chelyabinsk Region


On June 30, 2023, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court upheld the sentence of 61-year-old Olga Zhelavskaya unchanged - 2 years of probation for reading the Bible. The decision has entered into force. The believer has the right to appeal the verdict in cassation.


Speaking with the last word before the Court of Appeal, Zhelavskaya drew attention to the groundlessness of this court decision: “In the court of first instance, the prosecution never mentioned any extremist cases on my part ... No quotes, no facts, no records, no victims ".


Chairman of the Supreme Court of Russia Vyacheslav Lebedev at a meeting of judges of courts of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts said : “Increased standards for protecting the constitutional rights of citizens are provided by the explanations of the Supreme Court that actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion , including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.”


Case of Zhelavskaya in Chelyabinsk


Brief history of the case


Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk faced persecution for her faith in March 2019, when her apartment was searched as part of a case against Vladimir Suvorov. Two years later, investigator Alexander Chepenko opened a criminal case against the believer, based on the testimony of the infiltrated agent Ruzayeva. Zhelavskaya was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The unlawful actions, according to the investigation, consisted in the fact that the woman invited guests to her place, prayed and sang songs with her friends. While under investigation, in the fall of 2021, the believer suffered COVID-19 and a stroke. In August 2022, her case went to court. In April 2023, the believer was sentenced to 2 years of probation. An appeal in June 2023 upheld the verdict.


Criminal case


Region:

Chelyabinsk Region

Locality:

Chelyabinsk

What is suspected:

“acted out of religious motives” and participated in “collective worship, consisting in successive performances of songs ... and prayers to Jehovah God, studying and discussing articles and religious texts” (from the decision to initiate a criminal case).

Case number:

12202750030000018

Initiated:

August 31, 2021

Current stage of the case:

verdict took effect

Investigating:

the third department for the investigation of particularly important cases of the 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(2)

Case number in court:

1-27/2023 (1-528/2022)

Court of First Instance:

Metallurgical District Court of Chelyabinsk

Judge of the Court of First Instance:

Alexander Shatsky


In the photo: Olga Zhelavskaya on the day of the announcement of the verdict.

Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

Jehovah's witnesses can refuse blood transfusions, decides the Supreme Court (STF).

 BRASIL  Jehovah's witnesses can refuse blood transfusions, decides the Supreme Court (STF). 26/09/2024 The thesis that determines the state the cost of alternative treatments that are available from the Unified Health System (SUS) and that do not involve blood transfusion was fixed. The Supreme Court (STF) ruled on Wednesday (25/9) that medical patients can refuse blood transfusion for religious reasons. The plenary discussed extraordinary appeals (REs) 979742 (topic of General repercussion 952) and 1212272 (topic of General repercussion 1069), which deal with the right to perform surgery without blood transfusion for patients Jehovah's witnesses, a religion that does not accept this type of treatment. In RE 979742, the position of Rapporteur Minister Luís Roberto Barroso prevailed. In his vote, the president of the Supreme Court allowed Jehovah's witnesses to refuse blood transfusions, as long as this refusal meets requirements such as the patient being of legal age, capa...
Leer más

Appeal in Moscow Toughens the Punishment for One of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Terms for Two Other Believers Remain Intact

 RUSSIA Appeal in Moscow Toughens the Punishment for One of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Terms for Two Other Believers Remain Intact October 4, 2024 Moscow On October 3, 2024, the verdict against Anatoliy Marunov, Sergey Tolokonnikov and Roman Mareyev came into force. At the same time, the Moscow City Court added two months to Tolokonnikov's term. Three believers received from four and a half to six and a half years in prison. "The court criminalized the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses," the believers' lawyer said in the appeal. "The result was that the court declared the peaceful and socially harmless practice of religion a crime." Roman Mareyev stressed that the decision of the first instance violates Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which guarantees freedom of conscience and religion. He also noted: "The court did not establish the presence of motives of religious hatred or enmity in my actions, and did not establish agai...
Leer más

Appeal in Samara Upholds the Conviction of Aleksandr Dolganov — Three Years in Prison for Faith in Jehovah God

 RUSSIA Appeal in Samara Upholds the Conviction of Aleksandr Dolganov — Three Years in Prison for Faith in Jehovah God October 1, 2024 Samara Region On September 27, 2024, the panel of judges of the Samara Regional Court agreed with the decision of the first instance in the case of Aleksandr Dolganov. Although the term of punishment for the believer, 35, remained the same, the appeal counted the time under house arrest against the punishment at the rate of 1 day of house arrest for 1 day of colony. According to this decision, Dolganov should serve his sentence a month and a half earlier. Earlier, the Avtozavodskiy District Court of the city of Tolyatti considered it a crime for Dolganov to hold services of Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the believer, this contradicts the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, so he appealed the verdict. Addressing the panel of judges, Dolganov said: "Bible principles taught me to be a kind, caring, patien...
Leer más