Photo: Dennis Christensen's detention center

Criminal Investigation and Trial

The believer in Oryol was left behind bars until at least November 23

Oryol Region

An appeal against the arrest of a Jehovah's Witness in Oryol was unsuccessful. On September 28, 2017, the Oryol Regional Court, after hearings that took 2 days and lasted 7 hours, upheld the measure of restraint in the form of detention.

Believer Dennis Christensen was arrested on May 25, 2017 while reading the Bible with fellow believers. The arrest was a direct consequence of the liquidation of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Oryol. Although Dennis Christensen was never a founder or member of this organization, representatives of the investigation inaccurately told the court - and the court did not check this - that he was its "leader". He was groundlessly charged with continuing the activities of an organization that was liquidated for extremism.

Lawyers insist on the complete innocence of Dennis Christensen. The liquidation of a legal entity does not cancel the constitutional right of everyone to freedom of religion. Although Dennis Christensen is a Danish citizen, he lives in Oryol with his wife Irina, works in the field of installation construction. He was never a "foreign missionary" and came to Orel for personal reasons, not at the invitation of any organization.

The court refused to replace the detention of the believer in the Oryol pre-trial detention center with house arrest, even despite the official guarantees of the Royal Embassy of Denmark, which, for humanitarian reasons, gave assurances that it would not provide him with a new passport to replace the one seized by the investigators and would not assist him in leaving the Russian Federation.

Case of Christensen in Oryol

Case History
Dennis Christensen is the first Jehovah’s Witness in modern Russia to be imprisoned only because of his faith. He was arrested in May 2017. The FSB accused the believer of organizing the activities of a banned organization on the basis of the testimony of a secret witness, theologian Oleg Kurdyumov from a local university, who kept covert audio and video recordings of conversations with Christensen about faith. There are no extremist statements or victims in the case. In 2019, the court sentenced Christensen to 6 years in prison. The believer was serving time in the Lgov colony. He repeatedly asked for the replacement of part of the unserved term with a fine. For the first time, the court granted the request, but the prosecutor’s office appealed this decision, and the prison administration threw the believer into a punishment cell on trumped-up charges. Christensen developed illnesses that prevented him from working in prison. On May 24, 2022, the believer was released after serving his sentence and was immediately deported to his homeland, Denmark.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Oryol Region
Locality:
Oryol
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, together with the others he conducted religious services, which is interpreted as “organising the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the court’s decision on the liquidation of the local organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11707540001500164
Initiated:
May 23, 2017
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
UFSB of Russia in the Oryol region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-37/1
[i18n] Рассмотрено судом первой инстанции:
Железнодорожный районный суд г. Орла
Judge:
Алексей Николаевич Руднев
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Орловский областной суд
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Льговский райсуд Курской области
Case History