Photo: Oryol Courthouse
On February 19, 2018, the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Oryol began a preliminary hearing in the criminal case of a Danish citizen, Dennis Christensen, a Jehovah's Witness by religion, accused of "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Since May 2017, Dennis has been detained in a local pre-trial detention center.
On the evening of May 25, 2017, the street near the building belonging to one of the believers was filled with cars and buses with armed masked men - riot policemen. Under the direction of an FSB investigator, the group entered the building and blocked the believers in it. Searches, interrogations and searches of houses continued until the next morning. Dennis Christensen was arrested.
There are no victims or victims in his case. No one ever heard words of enmity or hatred from him. All the guilt of this peaceful man lies in the fact that he professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, the registered organizations of which were liquidated by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
The main occupation of Dennis Christensen in Orel was the installation of wooden structures, he is married to a local resident, Irina Christensen, so he was in Orel for personal reasons, and not at the invitation of any organization.
Every 393rd inhabitant of Denmark professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, in Holbæk (Denmark) there is a major biblical center of this religion. The Royal Embassy of Denmark, seeking a milder measure of restraint for Christensen, provided assurances to the court that it would not assist him in leaving the Russian Federation. However, the court left him in custody for the entire period of the investigation.
The preliminary hearing will continue on February 21, 2018. Lawyers are requesting the exclusion of a number of inadmissible evidence from the case.
