Alexey Oreshkov, Alexandr Rakovskiy and Alexander Vavilov

Alexey Oreshkov, Alexandr Rakovskiy and Alexander Vavilov

Alexey Oreshkov, Alexandr Rakovskiy and Alexander Vavilov

Unjust Verdicts

A Court in Nizhny Novgorod Region Sentenced Three Jehovah's Witnesses to Three Years of Suspended Sentence for Their Belief in Jehovah

Nizhegorod Region

On October 25, 2021, Dmitry Pestov, judge of the Pavlovsk City Court of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, found believers Aleksey Oreshkov, Aleksandr Rakovsky and Aleksandr Vavilov guilty of participating in extremist activities. In one day, the court went through the stages of the debate of the parties, the last word and the announcement of the verdict.

The believers insist on their complete innocence and can appeal the verdict.

Hairdresser Aleksandr Vavilov, 54, lost his job and the ability to visit his children and granddaughters who live in other cities because of the criminal prosecution. Also Vavilov has been unable to take care of his elderly mother for a long time. Similarly, Aleksey Oreshkov, 50, cannot help his mother, a group I invalid. IT specialist Aleksandr Rakovskiy, 41, father of two young children, also fears dismissal because of his criminal record.

The persecution of believers, organized by the Russian Federal Security Service in the Nizhny Novgorod region, began with mass searches in July 2019. Then the security forces invaded the homes of 31 families of Jehovah's Witnesses. The court sent Oreshkov and Vavilov behind bars. There they spent 211 and 241 days, respectively, and another 19 months under house arrest. Later Rakovskiy was also required to sign an undertaking not to leave, based on the criminal case.

According to the investigation, it was extremism that "unidentified persons, in the implementation of a joint criminal intent, acting intentionally, as a group of persons by prior collusion ... took active steps to ... hold religious speeches and services," during which, like in hundreds of other countries, they peacefully discussed the Bible and Christian teachings, as well as praying.

As in most cases against Jehovah's Witnesses, the prosecution line was built only on proving that law-abiding believers belonged to an "undesirable" religion. For example, Lobachevsky NSU experts, having studied the video files attached to the case, confirmed that they depicted actions characteristic of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same time, the experts concluded that the recordings do not contain any negative statements about persons of other race, nationality, or religion, and there are no encouragements to hostile actions. An FSB officer during the court hearings was also forced to admit that the Jehovah's Witnesses religion is not banned in Russia. Witnesses involved in the trial drew attention to the numerous falsifications of their testimony in the interrogation protocols, as well as to the pressure they were subjected to. The prosecution did not identify any victims of the believers' actions.

A total criminal cases were initiated against 15 believers in Nizhny Novgorod region. One of them had already been sentenced: Sergey Verkhoturov, 46, received a six-year suspended sentence for his belief in Jehovah.

Legal scholars and human rights activists in Russia and abroad have repeatedly called on the Russian authorities to stop persecuting Jehovah's Witnesses. In 2019, the problem of the legal conflict between freedom of religion and the application of the "extremist" article was mentioned in the report to the President by Russian Human Rights Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova.

Case of Vavilov and Oreshkov in Pavlovo

Case History
In July 2019, mass searches and detentions of Jehovah’s Witnesses took place in Nizhny Novgorod and the city of Pavlovo. The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region initiated a criminal case on the suspicion that unidentified persons were participating in extremist activity — this is how the investigation classified the worship of believers. The security forces detained Aleksey Oreshkov and Aleksandr Vavilov and placed them in pretrial detention for 211 and 241 days, respectively. Later, the FSB added Aleksandr Rakovskiy to the same case as a defendant. In January 2021, the case went to court. Despite fabricated testimonies in the case and the fact that there were no victims, in October 2021 the court imposed a 3-year suspended sentence on the peaceful believers. In January 2022, the regional court, and in December the cassation court, left this sentence unchanged.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Nizhegorod Region
Locality:
Pavlovo
Suspected of:
"Realizing a joint criminal intent, acting intentionally, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy . . . took active steps aimed at . . . conducting religious speeches and services”
Court case number:
11907220001000025
Initiated:
July 16, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Nizhniy Novgorod Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-49/2021
Court of First Instance:
Павловский районный суд Нижегородской области
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Дмитрий Пестов
Case History