Another Conviction of One of Jehovah's Witnesses in Oryol. Dmitriy Ignatov Sentenced to Two Years of Forced Labor

 RUSSIA

Another Conviction of One of Jehovah's Witnesses in Oryol. Dmitriy Ignatov Sentenced to Two Years of Forced Labor

July 25, 2024 Oryol Region

Dmitriy Ignatov, 27, believer from Oryol, was found guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. That is how Andrey Tretyakov, a judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of Oryol, classified "active study of religious literature" among fellow believers. The verdict was announced on July 24, 2024.

"The accusation that was brought against me is like a Christmas ball: shiny on the outside, but empty on the inside," the believer noted in his last word. "There are a lot of scary words in it, but there is no concrete evidence." According to Ignatov, the materials of the case only confirm that he professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The believer considers himself innocent and intends to appeal the verdict. "Not even once did the state prosecutor voice at the court hearings at least one extremist statement or action on my part that would show that I am a criminal and dangerous to others," Dmitriy said. "Because I've never done that. If there had been something, something would have come to light during a year of gathering information about me." The accusation was based on the testimony of at least nine witnesses who did not know Ignatov and had not seen him before. The testimony of the three prosecution witnesses, who did not appear in court, was not connected to the case.

Back in December 2020, the Ignatovs' home was searched, electronic devices were seized from them, and their bank accounts were subsequently frozen. At that time, Dmitry was a witness in the case of another local believer, Vladimir Piskaryov. In October of the following year, the investigator opened a case against Ignatov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For some time, officers of the Center for Combating Extremism conducted surveillance on the believer. Dmitry Ignatov said: "Of course, against this background, we experienced a lot of stress. My spouse started having severe migraines. Sometimes they occurred on several days straight. Because of this, we became concerned about other diseases that we are still struggling with."

In Oryol, eight of Jehovah's Witnesses faced criminal prosecution because of their faith, three of them are in a penal colony. Dennis Christensen has already been released and has since been deported.

Case of Ignatov in Oryol

Case History

In December 2020, Dmitry Ignatov's home was searched in Oryol as part of the case of Piskarev and others. In October 2021, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case, accusing the believer of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. In January 2024, the case went to court. At least nine prosecution witnesses said they did not know Ignatov, so they could not report anything specific. In July of the same year, the court sentenced the believer to 2 years of forced labor

Criminal case

Region:

Oryol Region

Locality:

Oryol

Suspected of:

"Actively participated in the study of religious literature" (from the decision to prosecute as an accused)

Court case number:

12102540005000069

Case initiated:

October 28, 2021

Current case stage:

Verdict did not take effect

Investigating:

Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Oryol Region

Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:

282.2 (2)

Court case number:

1-123/2024

Court of First Instance:

Sovetsky District Court of Oryol

Judge of the Court of First Instance:

Andrey Tretyakov

In the photo: Dmitriy Ignatov with his wife.