Kirill Gushchin and his friends on the day of the cassation hearing, September 26, 2024

Kirill Gushchin and his friends on the day of the cassation hearing, September 26, 2024

Kirill Gushchin and his friends on the day of the cassation hearing, September 26, 2024

Legal Victories

Court of Cassation Upheld the Aquittal of Kirill Gushchin — Prosecutor's Office Has Already Made an Official Apology to the Believer

Kabardino-Balkaria

The acquittal in the case of Kirill Gushchin remains in force. This decision was made by the Fifth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Pyatigorsk on September 26, 2024.

A month earlier, the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria made an official apology to Gushchin for unjustified criminal prosecution. However, in the cassation proceedings, the prosecution sought a complete review of the case. This is how Gushchin commented on the position of the prosecutor's office: "The arguments in the cassation submission do not refute the conclusions of the court of first instance, but is simply the public prosecutor's disagreement with the assessment of the evidence and the established circumstances."

To date, only two acquittals of Jehovah's Witness in Russia remain in force – Kirill Gushchin's and Yuriy Zalipayev's.

The Case of Gushchin in Mayskiy

Case History
In May 2020, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against Kirill Gushchin for his faith. Law enforcement officers conducted a series of searches in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. They broke into homes, planted banned publications and used force against members of their families. About a year later, another case was initiated against Kirill Gushchin, this time for "involving others in the activity of an extremist organization". Later, the case against Kirill's wife, Svetlana, and four other peaceful women was made into a separate proceeding from the Gushchin case. In June 2021, Gushchin's case went to court. At the hearings, it became obvious that religious scholar Larisa Astakhova "had substituted objective concepts with her personal opinion" in her expert study on which the case was based. In May 2024, the court acquitted the believer, and later the courts of appeal and cassation upheld this ruling. The Prosecutor's Office made an official apology to the believer for the unjustified criminal prosecution.
Timeline

Persons in case

Gushchin
Kirill

Criminal case

Region:
Kabardino-Balkaria
Locality:
Mayskiy
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, "he took actions by conducting meetings for worship, which consisted of regularly singing songs ... and praying to Jehovah God."
Court case number:
12002830005000024
Initiated:
May 7, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Mayskiy Interdistrict Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)
Court case number:
1-1/2024 (1-2/2023; 1-7/2022; 1-128/2021)
Court:
Mayskiy District Court of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
Judge:
Ruslan Atakuyev
Case History
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