For the First Time Since 2017, Jehovah's Witnesses Have Been Sentenced in Kalmykia: Three Women Received Suspended Sentences for Their Faith

 RUSSIA 

For the First Time Since 2017, Jehovah's Witnesses Have Been Sentenced in Kalmykia: Three Women Received Suspended Sentences for Their Faith

June 27, 2024 Kalmykia

On June 24, 2024, Judge Aleksey Polevshchikov of the Elista City Court of the Republic of Kalmykia sentenced three believers to suspended sentences: Tsagan Khalgaeva and Yekaterina Menkova to two years, and Kishta Tutinova to three years. The court considered it a crime for women to have peaceful conversations about God and the Bible via video conferencing.

In February 2023, the FSB Directorate for the Republic of Kalmykia opened a criminal case against pensioner Tutinova on suspicion of organizing the activities of an extremist organization. A week later, she, Khalgaeva and Menkova were searched. After that Tutinova was sent to an isolation ward for two days. In December 2023, Ekaterina and Tsagan were charged with participating in an extremist organization's activities. A year later, the case went to court, where it was under consideration for three months.

The prosecutor requested six, three and two and a half years of suspended sentences for Tutinova, Khalgaeva and Menkova, respectively. In passing the sentence, the court reclassified Tutinova's charge from an organization to participation in the activities of an extremist organization.

The lawyer commented on the videos from the case materials, which were presented as evidence of illegal activity: "We observed everyday conversations about the weather, health, doctors, and culinary recipes. But most importantly, we observed the ordinary religious life of a believer: the video recorded how Kishta Ochirovna says prayers to Jehovah God, reads and discusses with others passages from the Bible, talks on religious topics. Neither the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kalmykia nor the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation prohibited any of this."

Throughout the criminal prosecution, women experienced various difficulties. During the search, Yekaterina Menkova felt sick, and the security forces had to call an ambulance for her. Tsagan Khalgaeva was dismissed from her job the next day after the search and interrogation as a witness in the case. Pensioner Kishta Tutinova, who spent about five months under house arrest and more than six months under the ban on certain actions, said: "I was in a small one-room apartment with my son's family. There were seven of us. There was also a lot of lack of movement and walking, and it affected my well-being."

According to believers, they managed not to lose their presence of mind thanks to the support of friends. "It is especially touching when those who have recently faced persecution themselves come, as well as those who are currently directly going through the same thing, but find the strength, time and desire to strengthen others," said Yekaterina Menkova. Kishta Tutinova noted that the example of Andrey Vlasov and Dennis Christensen, who managed to maintain a positive attitude in prison, helped her in many ways.

The case of Tutinova and Others in Elista

Case History

In February 2023, the FSB opened a criminal case for organizing the activities of an extremist organization against pensioner Kishta Tutinova from Elista and invaded her and her fellow believers with searches. The reason was that the believer, being at home, according to the investigation, “held religious meetings and directly participated in them in the form of online conferences.” The woman spent two days in a temporary detention facility, more than four months under house arrest and about seven months under a ban on certain actions. Tsagan Khalgaeva and Yekaterina Menkova were witnesses in the case, but in December 2023 they were charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization. In February 2024, the case went to court. Three months later, the women were given suspended sentences ranging from two to three years.

Criminal case

Region:

Kalmykia

Locality:

Elista

Suspected of:

"Conducts religious meetings and directly participates in them in the mode of online conferences, and also involves residents of the region in the activities of this organization for the purpose of propaganda"

Court case number:

12307850001000001

Case initiated:

February 16, 2023

Current case stage:

Verdict did not take effect

Investigating:

FSB Directorate for the Republic of Kalmykia

Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:

282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)

Court case number:

1-112/2024

Court of First Instance:

Elista City Court

Judge of the Court of First Instance:

Alexey Polevshchikov

In the photo: Kishta Tutinova, Tsagan Khalgaeva and Yekaterina Menkova.