The Oryol District Court extended the arrest of a believing Danish citizen for another three months

On November 20, 2017, a judge of the Sovetsky District Court of Oryol decided to keep the law-abiding Jehovah's Witness behind bars, extending his detention until February 23, 2018.

A local resident, Dennis Christensen, who has Danish citizenship and is married to an Orlov woman, was arrested on May 25, 2017 during a Bible study, which he attended with his wife Irina. The FSB officers investigating the case baselessly stated that Christensen "continued" the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Oryol, which was liquidated by a court decision. Meanwhile, the believer was never a member of this organization, as the court could easily verify by simply looking at the documents received from the local department of justice. In the six months since Christensen's arrest, FSB investigators have interviewed dozens of residents of the Oryol region and other regions, trying to gather evidence of any illegal activity of the believer.

During the 3-hour hearing, Judge Andrei Tretyakov did not satisfy the defense's motions to replace the measure of restraint with a milder one, such as house arrest. The court also did not take into account the official guarantees of the Royal Embassy of Denmark, which, on humanitarian grounds, gave assurances that it would not provide Christensen with a new passport to replace the one seized by the investigators and would not assist him in leaving the Russian Federation.

The fact that the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Oryol was liquidated by the court, and its activities were banned, does not negate the right of "everyone" (that is, not only a citizen of Russia) to freedom of religion, enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to the Basic Law of the country, everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right to profess, individually or in community with others, any religion, freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them. The main occupation of Dennis Christensen in Orel was the installation of wooden structures, he was in Orel for personal reasons, and not at the invitation of any organization.

Dennis Christensen is completely innocent.