Court in Kabardino-Balkaria Acquitted One of Jehovah's Witnesses Accused of Extremism

 RUSSIA


Court in Kabardino-Balkaria Acquitted One of Jehovah's Witnesses Accused of Extremism

May 2, 2024 Kabardino-Balkaria


On May 2, 2024, Ruslan Atakuyev, judge of the Mayskiy District Court of Kabardino-Balkaria, acquitted Kirill Gushchin, 42, finding him not guilty of extremism. The prosecutor requested 7 years in a penal colony for the believer.


"I am not guilty," Gushchin said in his last plea. "I just enjoy the freedom that Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation gives . . . Imagine that in Russia the football federations FIFA and UEFA [which are legal entities—Ed.] were banned and recognized as extremist. Will they stop playing football in Russia? Or a group of people gathered to play football, no matter adults, children, men, women, they will already be extremists and they will be hunted in the fields?"


The prosecution of Kirill Gushchin began in May 2020, when the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against him for organizing the activities of an extremist organization. Masked security forces with machine guns detained the believer as he was about to go to work. Among them was FSB officer Sergey Svetikov, who was repeatedly accused of falsifying operational materials. During the search, planted publications included in the list of extremist literature were also found in Gushchin's house.


In April 2021, Kirill was charged with a second charge of involvement in the activities of an extremist organization. A new criminal case against Kirill's wife, Svetlana Gushchina, was separated from this case. The accusations against both are based on the testimony of a secret witness "Filatova", who secretly made audio recordings of peaceful worship services, at which nothing extremist happened.


This is not the first acquittal of Jehovah's Witnesses from Kabardino-Balkaria accused of extremism. Earlier, the Court of Cassation acquitted Yuriy Zalipayev from Mayskiy, and the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria overturned the conviction of Arkadya Akopyan from Prokhladniy, terminating the proceedings in his case.


Russian courts also acquitted the Bazhenovs, Ivan Sorokin and Andrey Zhukov, Dmitriy Barmakin, Aleksey Khabarov, and three believers from the Sverdlovsk region, but these decisions were subsequently overturned.


Case of Gushchin in Mayskiy


Case History


In May 2020, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Kirill Gushchin, a peaceful family man from the town of Mayskiy, for his faith. The security forces conducted a series of searches in the homes of believers. In the early morning, they broke into homes, planted banned publications and used force against their family members. About a year later, another case was opened against Kirill Gushchin, this time for “involvement in the activities of an extremist organization,” as the security forces call the conversations of believers about the Bible. Later, the case against Kirill’s wife Svetlana and 4 other peaceful women was separated from the Gushchin case into a separate proceeding. In June 2021, Gushchin’s case went to court. At the hearings, it became obvious that the examination of religious scholar Larisa Astakhova, which was the basis of the case, was carried out by her with “the substitution of objective concepts with her own opinion.” In May 2024, the court acquitted the believer.


Criminal case


Region:

Kabardino-Balkaria

Locality:

Maysky

Suspected of:

According to the investigation, "he took active actions, expressed in the conduct of divine services, consisting of the sequential performance of songs ... and prayers to Jehovah God."

Court case number:

12002830005000024

Case initiated:

May 7, 2020

Current case stage:

Appeal

Investigating:

Maysky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic

Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)

Court case number:

1-1/2024 (1-2/2023; 1-7/2022; 1-128/2021)

Court:

Maysky District Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic

Judge:

Ruslan Atakuev


In the he photo: Kirill Gushchin and his wife Svetlana surrounded by friends. May 2024.

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