Within the prescribed 30-day period, an appeal was filed against the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia of April 20, 2017 to liquidate all registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The full text of the complaint is published below.
The filing of a complaint means that, although the decision terminated the activities of registered organizations, it has not entered into legal force and is subject to review in the appellate instance - a panel consisting of three judges of the Supreme Court. An appeal hearing date has not yet been set.
| To the Board of Appeals of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 121260, Moscow, Povarskaya str., 15 | |
| of the administrative defendant: | Religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" 197739, St. Petersburg, Solnechnoye village, Srednyaya str., 6 |
| Administrative plaintiff: | Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation 119991, Moscow, Zhitnaya str., 14 |
| Administrative case: | AKPI17-238 |
APPEAL
on the Decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 20.04.2017.
in the administrative case AKPI17-238
The decision of the court that is being appealed
- By its decision of 20.04.2017 in the administrative case AKPI17-238 (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"), the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation granted the administrative claim of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, liquidated the Religious Organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" (hereinafter referred to as the Religious Organization) and its local religious organizations and turned the property of the liquidated religious organization remaining after the satisfaction of creditors' claims into the ownership of the Russian Federation.
Requirements of the person filing the appeal and the grounds for
by which it considers the court's decision to be incorrect
- The administrative defendant claims for the complete cancellation of the court decision and the adoption of a new decision in the case to refuse to satisfy the administrative claim of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, since there are the following grounds on which he considers the court decision to be incorrect:
- The decision is based on the presumption of guilt of Jehovah's Witnesses in carrying out extremist activities, and not on a comprehensive, complete, objective and direct study of the evidence available in the administrative case and without proper verification of information about the facts on the basis of which it was necessary to establish the presence or absence of circumstances substantiating the claims and objections of the persons participating in the case, as well as other circumstances relevant to the proper consideration and resolution of an administrative case;
- The decision liquidated independent legal entities registered by authorized federal bodies of state power in the form of religious organizations, in the activities of which there are no facts of extremism in general, and those with the presence of which the federal law associates the possibility of their liquidation;
- The decision violated the rights and legitimate interests of the administrative plaintiff, as well as individuals and legal entities of the Christian religion of Jehovah's Witnesses who were not involved in the case;
- The decision does not comply with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, generally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation.
- The wrongness of the decision is so obvious that even sincere opponents of Jehovah's Witnesses admit it. Thus, on 25.04.2017, the official website of the Sobesednik Publishing House (https://sobesednik.ru/obshchestvo/20170425-andrey-kuraev-zapret-svideteley-iegovy-podryvaet-doverie-k-s) published an interview with Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev "The Ban on Jehovah's Witnesses Undermines Confidence in the Court." In it, A. Kuraev stated: "Accusing them of extremism is ridiculous ... Accuse pacifists, radical non-resisting Tolstoyans of extremism! ... The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation seriously compromised itself with this decision. The belief that the Russian judicial system, even at the highest level, can be trusted, has been undermined. In this case, I am not a defender of Jehovah's Witnesses ... I defend common sense and just stability in our society. Politically speaking, this decision of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation destabilizes the situation in the country, it rocks the boat, presents the authorities in an evil and unpredictable form and thereby creates unnecessary distrust and apprehension in society.
Facts testifying to the incorrectness of the Decision
I. Having incorrectly determined the circumstances relevant to the administrative case (paragraph 1 of part 2 of Article 310 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation), the court excluded from the scope of judicial review the circumstances of the use of political repression that violated Article 18 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, taken together with Articles 9 and 6 of the Convention
- In making the contested decision, the court of first instance proceeded from the fact that the proclamation of a religious association as extremist is carried out regardless of the characteristics, reputation, as well as other qualities of the relevant association that do not prevent its liquidation when signs of extremism are established in its activities.
- At the same time, the court pointed out that such facts regarding the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as a whole were established by court decisions in civil, administrative cases, and decisions of judges in cases of administrative legal relations that entered into legal force.