Kirill Gushchin and his friends on cassation's day, September 26, 2024

Kirill Gushchin and his friends on cassation’s day, September 26, 2024

Kirill Gushchin and his friends on cassation’s day, September 26, 2024

Legal Victories

Court of Cassation Confirms the Innocence of Kirill Gushchin — Prosecution 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 Kabardino-Balkarian Republic made an official apology to Gushchin for unjustified criminal prosecution. However, in cassation, the prosecution sought a complete review of the case. Here is how Gushchin commented on this position of the prosecutor's office: "The arguments of the cassation presentation do not refute the conclusions of the court of first instance, but simply boil down to the public prosecutor's disagreement with the assessment of the evidence and the established factual 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, a peaceful family man from the town of Mayskiy, for his faith. Law enforcement officers conducted a series of searches in the homes of believers. In the early morning, they broke into homes, planted banned publications and used force against the believers' family members. About a year later, another case was initiated against Kirill Gushchin, this time for "involving others in the activity of an extremist organization," as the security forces call the conversations of believers about the Bible. Later, the case against Kirill's wife Svetlana and 4 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 the expert study on which the case was based. In May 2024, the court acquitted the believer, and later the appeal and cassation instances 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 active actions, expressed in the conduct of divine services, consisting of the sequential performance of songs ... and prayers to Jehovah God."
Court case number:
12002830005000024
Initiated:
May 7, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Maysky Interdistrict Investigation 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:
Майский районный суд Кабардино-Балкарской Республики
Judge:
Руслан Атакуев
Case History