The Appeal Filed in Nizhny Novgorod Left Unchanged Suspended Sentences for Three of Jehovah's Witnesses

On January 14, 2022, a panel of judges of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, chaired by Olga Epifanova, upheld the sentence for residents of Pavlov, Aleksey Oreshkov, Alexander Rakovsky and Alexander Vavilov - 3 years suspended.

Believers still insist on their innocence. They have the right to appeal the verdict in cassation and international instances.

The cases of Oreshkov, Vavilov and Rakovsky, along with several other cases in the region, were the result of mass searches that took place in July 2019 in Nizhny Novgorod and the city of Pavlovo. The Pavlovsk City Court found three believers guilty of extremism, although there were no victims in the case, and the trial itself was held with violations. The line of accusation was based only on evidence that the three men belonged to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. At the same time, one of the interrogated FSB officers admitted that this religion is not officially banned. No one presented evidence of real crimes in court. Witnesses involved in the court of first instance claimed that their testimony had been falsified.

Alexey Oreshkov and Alexander Vavilov spent 7 and 8 months in pre-trial detention, respectively. Later, they were chosen a measure of restraint not related to imprisonment.

Due to unjustified criminal prosecution, Alexander Vavilov lost his job and the opportunity to visit his children and granddaughters, Alexey Oreshkov for a long time could not take care of his mother, a disabled person of group I. Due to his criminal record, Alexander Rakovsky, the father of two young children, faces dismissal.

Human rights activists unanimously condemn the repression of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation 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."