The Court of Cassation Did Not Change the Sentence for Faith of Four Jehovah's Witnesses from Primorye Territory, Including a Woman with a Disability

 RUSSIA

The Court of Cassation Did Not Change the Sentence for Faith of Four Jehovah's Witnesses from Primorye Territory, Including a Woman with a Disability

October 17, 2023 Primorye Territory

On October 16, 2023, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction upheld the verdict against believers from Spassk-Dalniy. Dmitriy Malevaniy, Aleksey Trofimov, and Olga Panyuta will continue to serve their sentences in the penal colony, and Olga Opaleva will serve a suspended sentence.

All four believe that they were convicted simply because they are Jehovah's Witnesses. The court sentenced Malevaniy, Trofimov and Panyuta to 4.5 to 7 years in prison. Opaleva, who suffered a stroke during the trial, received a 5-year suspended sentence. Later, the appeal slightly reduced the sentence.

Back in 2018, the Government of the Russian Federation, in response to the demands of the UN Human Rights Council, expressed its official position regarding Jehovah's Witnesses: "The ban on the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization does not in itself mean a restriction of the right to freedom of religion of its supporters, who still have the right to practice their religious rites, provided that the form of such worship does not contradict the norms of Russian legislation." Despite this, believers across the country continue to be found guilty of extremism for peaceful religious practices.

Case of Malevaniy and Others in Spassk-Dalny

Brief history of the case

In the fall of 2018, searches were carried out in the city of Spassk-Dalniy at the homes of Dmitriy Malevaniy, a programming teacher; Aleksey Trofimov, a boiler room supervisor; and pensioners Olga Panyuta and Olga Opaleva. These peaceful citizens were prosecuted because of their faith in Jehovah God. The believers were accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization and involving others in it. The accusation was based on the testimony of secret witnesses "Sidorova" and "Ivanova", who were assigned by the FSB to collect information on the believers. On the eve of the search, Olga Opaleva had a heart attack, and later, on the way to court, she had a stroke. The four believers spent a year under house arrest and have been under a recognizance agreement since November 2019. In December 2019, the criminal case went to court. In February 2023, the believers were sentenced: Dmitriy Malevaniy—seven years in a penal colony; Aleksey Trofimov—six and a half years in a penal colony; Olga Panyuta—four and a half years in a penal colony; and Olga Opaleva—a five-year suspended sentence. The appellate court shortened each of these terms by two months.

Criminal case

Region:

Primorye Territory

Locality:

Spassk-Dalniy

What is suspected:

According to investigators, he illegally organized the activities of a religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of Spassk-Dalniy (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the liquidation of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses)

Criminal case number:

11802050020000065

Initiated:

November 12, 2018

Current stage of the case:

verdict took effect

Investigates:

Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Primorsky Territory

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)

Court case number:

1-4/2023 (1-4/2022; 1-7/2021; 1-70/2020; 1-570/2019)

Court of First Instance:

Spassky District Court of Primorsky Krai

Judge of the trial court:

Pavel Bobrovich

In the photo: Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction. Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai