KChR believer imprisoned conditionally

A court in the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) found Irina Perefilieva, a Jehovah's Witness*, guilty of extremism and sentenced her to a conditional prison term. In her last word, she refused to plead guilty.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the KChR's Urupsky is considering the case of Irina Perefilieva, a Jehovah's Witness*. She has stated that believers were praying and discussing the doctrine, while the prosecution failed to provide a single fact justifying the criminal prosecution. The prosecution witness has that she had never heard any calls for extremism from Perefilieva. The prosecutor demanded four years of probation (conditional imprisonment) for Perefilieva.

The Urupsky District Court has found Irina Perefilieva guilty of inciting to participate in the activities of an extremist organization and participation in the activities thereof and sentenced her to 4.5 years of probation with a probationary period of 2.5 years.

"My religious beliefs have nothing to do with extremism. My conscience is clear before the law, society and the state," Perefilieva was quoted as saying on the Telegram channel of the human rights project "Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial."

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that in December 2021, a court in Cherkessk found Elena Menchikova, who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses*, to be a member of an organization banned in Russia by the court and imposed a five-year conditional imprisonment term on her.

*396 Russian organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses are recognized as extremist, and their activities in Russia are banned by court's decision.