An appeal in Birobidzhan upheld the suspended sentence for Igor Tsarev, one of Jehovah's Witnesses

On April 29, 2021, the Jewish Autonomous Region Court upheld Birobidzhan-based Igor Tsarev's two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence with a year of the restriction of freedom and a probationary period of two years. The court determined that peaceful practicing of the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses to be participation in the activities of a banned organization.

A criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against the 46-year-old father of a minor child was initiated on July 30, 2019. The trial lasted almost 14 months, and on February 12, 2021, the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region sentenced Igor Tsarev to suspended imprisonment for continuing to read and discuss the Bible with others. The believer considered the verdict unfair and appealed against it.

During the appeal hearing, Igor Tsarev noted that neither the investigation nor the state prosecutor distinguished between the meetings of ordinary believers and the activities of prohibited associations, but focused on proving the believer's belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses, which no one hid. “So it turned out: if I profess the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, then I am an extremist, albeit without extremism, a criminal without a real crime. What other conclusion can be drawn when only one conclusion suggests itself? I am on trial for my faith in God, ”said the believer to the panel of judges.

Nevertheless, the appellate instance upheld the decision of the lower court unchanged. The verdict entered into force, but the believer can appeal against it in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.

The Jewish Autonomous Region holds the record for the number of cases filed against Jehovah's Witnesses. Igor Tsarev is one of 23 residents of Birobidzhan persecuted for their faith.

Russian human rights activists and the world community consider it unauthorized to prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses for the faith. Jean-Marie Delarue, member of the French Council of State and former director of civil liberties at the French Ministry of the Interior, says: “I believe that a democratic society should clearly define what it means to violate public order, to harm the common interest. A democratic country can blame and condemn someone in clear terms. Extremism is an obscure concept. Each of us will always be an 'extremist' for someone."