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 SPAIN Blood Transfusions and Jehovah’s Witnesses: Why the European Court of Human Rights Ruled Against Spain 10/02/2024 The Grand Chamber unanimously ruled that a competent adult patient has the right to refuse any medical treatment, including blood transfusion. by Massimo Introvigne On September 17, 2024, with the decision “Pindo Mulla v. Spain,” the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) awarded to the Jehovah’s Witnesses another resounding legal victory, this time about the often-discussed issue of blood transfusions. It was a rare substantially unanimous judgement of all the Grand Chamber’s 17 judges (8 expressed a partially dissenting opinion not on the substance of the matter but only on the issue of non-pecuniary damage). The case concerned Rosa Edelmira Pindo Mulla, an Ecuadorian woman who lives in Spain. In May 2017, she was diagnosed with a uterine fibroid, and a hysterectomy was recommended. Anticipating surgery, she completed a new Durable Power of ...

 RUSSIA  The last word of the defendant Vitaly Ilyinykh in Ussuriysk April 14, 2022 Primorsky Krai From the courtroom In his appeal to the court, the believer pointed out that his religion has nothing to do with the crime imputed to him: "It is unthinkable for me to treat people rudely, intolerantly or cruelly, and even more so to commit a grave crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state." Transcript of the court session in the Ussuriysky District Court of Primorsky Krai dated 04/14/2022 in the case 1-112/2021 (1-881/2020) on the accusation of Vitaly Vladimirovich Ilyinykh of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Vitaly Vladimirovich Ilyinykh: Your Honor, I would like to sincerely thank you for the way you approached the consideration of my case. You have examined all the materials very carefully and have given me the opportunity to speak out and explain my point of view on...

 RUSSIA Appeal in Samara Upholds the Conviction of Aleksandr Dolganov — Three Years in Prison for Faith in Jehovah God October 1, 2024 Samara Region On September 27, 2024, the panel of judges of the Samara Regional Court agreed with the decision of the first instance in the case of Aleksandr Dolganov. Although the term of punishment for the believer, 35, remained the same, the appeal counted the time under house arrest against the punishment at the rate of 1 day of house arrest for 1 day of colony. According to this decision, Dolganov should serve his sentence a month and a half earlier. Earlier, the Avtozavodskiy District Court of the city of Tolyatti considered it a crime for Dolganov to hold services of Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the believer, this contradicts the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, so he appealed the verdict. Addressing the panel of judges, Dolganov said: "Bible principles taught me to be a kind, caring, patien...

 RUSSIA  The last word of the defendant Andrey Ledyakin in Seversk April 26, 2022 Tomsk region From the courtroom In his appeal to the court, the believer drew attention to the fact that "the prosecution arbitrarily confused the concepts of the activities of a local religious organization with a canonical structure, without having grounds for that." Transcript of the court session in the Seversky City Court of the Tomsk region dated 04/26/2022 in the case 1-11/2022 (1-257/2021) on the charge of Andrei Sergeevich Ledyakin of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Andrey Sergeevich Ledyakin: Dear court! I want to start my last word with thanks! First of all, I want to thank the respected court, the participants in the trial and you, Your Honor, for your conscientious work and professionalism, for your respectful attitude, for giving you the opportunity to speak in your defense, for the friendly and calm atmosphere during...

 RUSSIA  Details of the raid against Jehovah's Witnesses in Samara: law enforcement officers used force against one believer September 30, 2024 Samara Region On September 16, 2024, in Samara, law enforcement officers detained Samvel Babayan, who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite the poor health of the believer, the court sent him to a pre-trial detention center. A criminal case on extremism has been opened against the man. These events were preceded by a search and interrogations, which took place on the same day. The security forces took Samvel, his wife and 17-year-old son to the local department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The young man was taken separately from his parents, on the way a police officer threatened him with a long term of imprisonment in a colony if he did not incriminate his relatives. Investigator Yuriy Prokopov charged Samvel Babayan with organizing the activity of an extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Crim...

 RUSSIA  The last word of the defendant Galina Abrosimova in Nizhny Novgorod May 5, 2022 Nizhny Novgorod region From the courtroom Speaking before the court, the believer stressed that she was being persecuted solely for her religious beliefs, and explained why she considers herself innocent: "This criminal case is absolutely illogical for me, given that I did not kill anyone, steal anything and did not commit other crimes." Transcript of the court session in the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod dated 05.05.2022 in the case 1-41/2022 (1-419/2021) on charges of Galina Alekseevna Abrosimova of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Abrosimova Galina Alekseevna: Your Honor, since the actions I am accused of are dictated by my religious beliefs, in some cases I will justify my words by what I believe in. And if a quote from the Holy Scriptures is heard in my speech, then it will be the Bible in a generally recogn...

 BRASIL  Jehovah's witnesses can refuse blood transfusions, decides the Supreme Court (STF). 26/09/2024 The thesis that determines the state the cost of alternative treatments that are available from the Unified Health System (SUS) and that do not involve blood transfusion was fixed. The Supreme Court (STF) ruled on Wednesday (25/9) that medical patients can refuse blood transfusion for religious reasons. The plenary discussed extraordinary appeals (REs) 979742 (topic of General repercussion 952) and 1212272 (topic of General repercussion 1069), which deal with the right to perform surgery without blood transfusion for patients Jehovah's witnesses, a religion that does not accept this type of treatment. In RE 979742, the position of Rapporteur Minister Luís Roberto Barroso prevailed. In his vote, the president of the Supreme Court allowed Jehovah's witnesses to refuse blood transfusions, as long as this refusal meets requirements such as the patient being of legal age, capa...