Experts treat new sentence of Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog as unconstitutional

In Taganrog, the pronouncement by the court of tougher verdict in the reconsideration of the case against sixteen Jehovah's Witnesses indicates the increase of persecution of members of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious organization in Russia. This opinion was expressed by experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 30, following the reconsideration of the case against sixteen Jehovah's Witnesses, earlier sentenced for extremism, the Taganrog City Court found all the defendants guilty. Meanwhile, in 2014, during the first consideration of the case, nine of sixteen defendants were acquitted. Four of the defendants were sentenced to conditional imprisonment, and the other twelve defendants were fined.

The verdict is illegal by nature and is based on fabricated charges. This opinion was expressed by Lev Levinson, an expert of the Institute of Human Rights. He sees the main reason for the increasing pressure on Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia in "a principled pacifism" of members of the religious organization.

According to Anatoly Krasikov, the leader of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), the verdict actually means the prosecution for their faith in violation of the Russian Constitution.

After the new sentence had been pronounced, the defence of the defendants announced the intention to appeal against the verdict. The advocates have noted that the judge actually reprinted the indictment and failed to take into account the arguments of the believers.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.