In the photo: Svetlana Monis with her husband Alam Aliyev. Birobidzhan, February 15, 2021

In the photo: Svetlana Monis with her husband Alam Aliyev. Birobidzhan, February 15, 2021

In the photo: Svetlana Monis with her husband Alam Aliyev. Birobidzhan, February 15, 2021

Unjust Verdicts

A sentence for 67th Jehovah's Witness. A Birobidzhan court ordered Svetlana Monis to pay a fine for believing in God

Jewish Autonomous Area

Vladimir Mikhalyov, a city of Birobidzhan (Jewish Autonomous Region) District Court judge, found Svetlana Monis guilty of participating in the activities of a banned organization on February 15, 2021. The verdict has not yet come into force. The believer is insisting on her complete innocence.

Svetlana was under house arrest for 495 days. Despite her progressive nearsightedness from an early age, Svetlana became a teacher of foreign languages. Lately she has been taking care of her elderly grandmother, who lives alone.

The persecution of Svetlana Monis began one year and 4 months after a criminal case was brought against her husband, Alam Aliyev. This happened after the notorious large-scale operation codenamed "Judgment Day" with the participation of 150 security forces.

The case was initiated on September 26, 2019. Svetlana was one of the believers against whom FSB investigator D. S. Yankin opened at least 12 criminal cases for extremism. The criminal case of Svetlana Monis was investigated by the Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. Investigator D. S. Yankin investigated the case for 5 months. The case was taken to court on 3 March 2020; the hearings, with interruptions, lasted more than 11 months.

This is the 6th conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses in the region and the 67th conviction in the entire country.

Thirteen criminal cases against believers are at various stages of review in the Birobidzhan District Court.

According to Article 28 of the Russian Constitution, everyone has the right "to freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and to act in accordance with them. This right extends to believers of all views and beliefs, including Jehovah's Witnesses. No court in Russia has ever recognized the religion or beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses as criminal. Such a decision is discriminatory and unconstitutional. Obviously, it is impossible to ban people, ideas, beliefs, thoughts and feelings.

The world community, in particular representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, unequivocally condemns the religious repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. They assert that "Jehovah's Witnesses should be able to peacefully enjoy their human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and freedom of expression, without discrimination.

The Case of Monis in Birobidzhan

Case History
In September 2019, a criminal case was initiated against Svetlana Monis, a foreign language teacher. A year earlier, an investigator detained her husband, Alam Aliyev, during a massive FSB special operation in Birobidzhan. Monis, along with other believers, was charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization. For more than 16 months, the believer was under a recognizance agreement. In February 2021, the court imposed a fine on her. But 3 months later, the court of appeal toughened the sentence, imposing a 2.5-year suspended sentence on the believer. In December 2021, the court of cassation returned the case to the appellate stage, which, in turn, overturned the verdict and returned the case for a new trial. Its result was a suspended sentence of 2.5 years. In 2023, during the third appeal hearing this decision was upheld, later the court of cassation left it unchanged.
Timeline

Persons in case

Monis
Svetlana

Criminal case

Region:
Jewish Autonomous Area
Locality:
Birobidzhan
Suspected of:
According to the investigation she “directly participated... in disseminating the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses... by improving her preaching skills and other religious activities”
Court case number:
11907990001000016
Initiated:
September 26, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-297/2022
Court:
Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region
Judge:
Yuliya Tsykina
Case History
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