Andrey Sazonov out outside the courthouse after the verdict was anounced, December 2021

Andrey Sazonov out outside the courthouse after the verdict was anounced, December 2021

Andrey Sazonov out outside the courthouse after the verdict was anounced, December 2021

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For a Second Time Court of Appeal Overturned the Sentence of Andrey Sazonov, One of Jehovah's Witnesses From Uray And Sent The Case for a Third Trial

Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area

On January 11, 2024, the panel of judges of the Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra, chaired by Judge Lyudmila Blashkova, overturned the verdict against Andrey Sazonov and sent the case to the Uray City Court for a new trial with a new panel of judges.

In the winter of 2021, the Uray City Court found Andrey Sazonov guilty of organizing and financing the activity of an extremist organization and sentenced him to a fine of 450,000 rubles. The court deemed Sazonov's peaceful religious activity, as well as colleting funds to help his fellow believers, to be a crime. The verdict was appealed. The court of appeal overturned the verdict, sending the case for a new trial.

In a new appeal, the believer noted: "Religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses – this is the name of an international religion, which the RF Supreme Court did not ban."

He added that there was no corpus delicti in his religious actions: "All witnesses unanimously testified [in court] that they had never heard from me statements inciting religious hatred or enmity, and did not see any other signs of extremism. The forensic expert studies conducted in the case also did not establish the presence of signs of extremism in meetings for worship."

In addition to preliminary hearings and court hearings concerning his preventive measures, Andrey Sazonov has been going to court for more than 3.5 years. In the Uray City Court, his case has already been heard by two of the three judges working there with criminal cases. When announcing the appeal decision, the court did not explain why the believer's case was again sent for retrial.

The Case of Sazonov in Uray

Case History
In January 2019, Andrey Sazonov, father of two minor children and deputy general director of an energy company, faced persecution for his faith. The investigator of the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against him for organizing extremist activity. After a search and interrogation, the believer was placed in a pretrial detention center for 20 days, then placed under house arrest, and 6 months later under a ban on certain actions. Later, Andrey Sazonov was also charged with financing the activity of an extremist organization. The court considered the case from June 2020 to December 2021. As a result, Sazonov was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 rubles. The court of appeal overturned this decision and sent the case back to the same court for a new trial, but with a different panel of judges. In June 2022, the second hearing began, and in October 2023, the court imposed a fine of 450,000 rubles on the believer. In January 2024, a court of appeal overturned the verdict for a second time and sent the case back for reconsideration.
Timeline

Persons in case

Sazonov
Andrey

Criminal case

Region:
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area
Locality:
Uray
Suspected of:
religious affiliation is deemed as “organising and participating in the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the court decision on the liquidation of the local organization of Jehovah's Witnesses)
Court case number:
11902711001000310
Initiated:
January 31, 2019
Current case stage:
trial in court of first instance
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)
Court case number:
1-59/2024
Court:
Uray City Court of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area-Yugra
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Viktor Yarishev
Case History
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