Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction. Vladivostok, Primorye Territory

Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction. Vladivostok, Primorye Territory

Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction. Vladivostok, Primorye Territory

Criminal trial

On the Appeal of the Prosecutor, the Court of Cassation Returned the Case of Dmitriy Barmakin to the Court of Appeal

Primorye Territory

On December 18, 2023, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok overturned the ruling of the Primorye Territorial Court, which declared the earlier sentence imposed on Dmitriy Barmakin — 8 years in penal colony — unlawful. The case was sent for a new appeal hearing before a different composition of judges.

Dmitriy Barmakin, 49, one of Jehovah's Witnesses and a programmer by profession, has been prosecuted for his faith for more than 5 years. He has already received two verdicts by the court of first instance (acquittal and conviction), as well as two decisions of the courts of appeal (cancellation of acquittal and cancellation of conviction).

In September 2023, Andrey Tregubov, Deputy Prosecutor of the Primorye Territory, striving for the imprisonment of a peaceful believer, filed a cassation appeal against the decision of the court of appeal, which decided to send Barmakin's case for a third review. Tregubov also requested the court of cassation to place the believer in custody, but this was denied; Dmitriy Barmakin remained under a recognizance agreement.

The Case of Barmakin in Vladivostok

Case History
Dmitriy Barmakin moved to Vladivostok from Crimea to take care of his sick mother-in-law and her elderly mother. In July 2018, law enforcement officers in masks and with weapons broke into their house to search it. Dmitriy was arrested, and he spent 1.5 years in a pretrial detention center. The judge returned the criminal case to the prosecutor due to the ambiguity of the charges, stating in the ruling that freedom of religion is the constitutional right of Barmakin as any citizen of the Russian Federation. In April 2021, the case went to court again, and 7 months later, judge Stanislav Salnikov fully acquitted the believer. In April 2022, the regional court overturned this verdict and sent the case for a new trial. Barmakin was sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony. In August 2023, a court of appeal overturned this verdict also, released him and sent the case for a third trial to the court of first instance. This decision was appealed by the prosecutor, and the court of cassation sent the case to the court of appeal comprising a different panel of judges, which in February 2024 upheld the verdict — 8 years in a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Barmakin
Dmitriy

Criminal case

Region:
Primorye Territory
Locality:
Vladivostok
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, together with others, he conducted worship services, which is interpreted as "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses)
Court case number:
11802050005000051
Initiated:
July 27, 2018
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate for the Pervorechensky District of Vladivostok of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-43/2023 (1-391/2022; 1-305/2021; 1-21/2020; 1-388/2019)
Court of First Instance:
Первореченский районный суд г. Владивостока
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Лариса Смоленкова
Case History