An appeal filed in Birobidzhan upheld Artur Lokhvitskiy's conviction for practicing his faith - a two-and-a-half year probation

On April 8, 2021, the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region did not satisfy the appeal of a resident of Birobidzhan, 35-year-old Artur Lokhvitskiy, who had previously been sentenced to 2.5 years of probation for his faith. During the hearing, the judge forbade the believer to quote the Bible, threatening additional punishment.

On February 2, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region sentenced Artur Lokhvitskiy to 2 years and 6 months of suspended imprisonment with a 3-year probationary period and the obligation to report to the police once a month. The prosecution requested 4 years in prison. The verdict was passed under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The believer appealed against this decision in the appellate instance - the regional court.

The appeal hearing on April 8 began with Judge Vladimir Shibanov emphatically forbidding a believer to talk about God and his faith, despite the fact that the right to profess religion is enshrined in the Russian Constitution; the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is also not forbidden. During the believer's speech, the judge repeatedly interrupted him, threatening to "call him to justice."

Artur himself said that he had not committed anything criminal: “The court [of the first instance] followed the lead of the state prosecutor, who proceeded from the erroneous assumption: everything that is somehow connected with the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, everything is extremist and everything that is prohibited, and therefore, it is only necessary to prove that a person professes the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, then the crime is proven. "

In the last word in the court of appeal, Artur reasoned: “From the Bible I learn that it is necessary to love neighbors, to love enemies and not to repay evil for evil. Agree, would an extremist do this? This is some kind of strange extremist! [...] The case does not contain victims and other data on the nature and amount of harm. In this whole case, my family and I were the victims. [...] Hours of video, which were examined in court, captured the usual religious activities: believers pray, perform religious chants, read and discuss the Bible and spiritual topics, talk about their faith in God. There are no extremist appeals, no mass distribution of extremist materials. There is not even a single offensive or obscene word. "

The court did not heed the arguments and upheld the conviction, which took effect immediately. Nevertheless, a believer has the right to appeal against it in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.

Artur Lokhvitskiy is an electrician by profession, works in the fire department. He spent about one and a half years under recognizance not to leave. Artur's family was also affected by the criminal prosecution. Following him, his wife, Anna, and his mother, Irina, became accused under a similar article. As a result of the criminal prosecution, Anna suffered serious emotional trauma and had to undergo expensive treatment.

Security officials have been monitoring believers in Birobidzhan, wiretapping their telephone conversations and conducting covert video filming since the spring of 2017. In May 2018, a special operation of the FSB took place in the city, codenamed "Judgment Day", in which 150 law enforcement officers took part. As a result, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers, among whom was Artur Lokhvitskiy.

The investigation into the Lokhvitskiy case lasted 5 months. On December 24, 2019, the case went to court. During the trial, there was no evidence that the believer had committed at least one real criminal act. The entire logic of the accusation was based solely on the fact that Artur is one of Jehovah's Witnesses and he discusses the Bible with others. Even the prosecutor's office admitted that there are no extremist actions of the defendant in the videos of the services with the participation of Artur Lokhvitskiy.

In the Jewish Autonomous Region, 10 believers have already received various sentences. With regard to 10 more believers, court decisions are on the way.

Both in Russia and abroad, there are regular calls to stop mass religious repression that violates Russian law and the Constitution. Even the Russian government stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually."