An appeal in Novosibirsk confirmed the sentence of Dmitry Dolzhikov - 2 years of forced labor for faith in Jehovah God

 RUSSIA


An appeal in Novosibirsk confirmed the sentence of Dmitry Dolzhikov - 2 years of forced labor for faith in Jehovah God

September 25, 2023 Novosibirsk Region


On September 22, 2023, the Novosibirsk Regional Court upheld the sentence of Dmitry Dolzhikov. Previously, the court of first instance sentenced him to 3 years in a general regime colony, but replaced the term with forced labor. Taking into account the term of arrest, he will only have to serve 2 years of forced labor.


The appeal court ignored the arguments of Dolzhikov, who stated: “The law does not consider professing, including together with others, the religion to which the liquidated religious associations belonged as a sign of extremism.” In his complaint, Dmitry stated: “The court did not establish the presence of motives of religious hatred or enmity in my actions; it is not established which specific social group I acted against. All my actions were completely peaceful. “I did not do anything that would indicate the continuation of the activities of any extremist organization.”


In total, 8 Jehovah's Witnesses are being persecuted for their faith in the Novosibirsk region, one of whom is in prison, and the other was recently released.


Back in 2018, human rights activists , commenting on the criminal prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, said: “What is happening to them, in fact, is happening to us - this is a test of the immune forces of society. The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses shows the inadequacy of anti-extremist legislation in general. If society does not protect Jehovah’s Witnesses, if their rights are not restored, this will mean that anyone can be declared an extremist.”


The Case of Dolzhikov 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 separate proceedings, which were subsequently suspended and resumed several times. A search was conducted at his new place of residence 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 the same year. The case involved the testimony of a secret witness and two Orthodox “sect fighters” activists, and many of the materials in the case concerned not 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 imprisonment was replaced by forced labor. In September 2023, an appeal upheld this decision.


Criminal case


Region:

Novosibirsk Region

Locality:

Novosibirsk

What is suspected:

What is suspected of: “deliberately, 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... demonstrating and watching educational videos”

Criminal case number:

42002500019000013

Initiated:

May 13, 2020

Current stage of the case:

verdict took effect

Investigates:

Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2)

Court case number:

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

Court of First Instance:

Leninsky District Court of Novosibirsk

Judge:

Olga Kovalenko


In  the photo: Dmitry with his wife Marina after the decision of the appeal court, Novohsibirsk, September 2023.

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