Photo: Arkady Akopovich Hakobyan (2018)

Criminal trial

In Kabardino-Balkaria, the court recognized the examination of the prosecution as "vicious evidence"

Kabardino-Balkaria

On March 14 and 15, 2018, at the hearing in the criminal case of Jehovah's Witness Arkadya Hakobyan in the Prokhladnensky District Court (Kabardino-Balkaria), expert Irina Balova was questioned, who fulfilled the conclusion underlying the charge against Hakobyan under Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement to hatred, humiliation of dignity). The court identified significant shortcomings in this conclusion and decided to appoint a new examination in the case.

Expert Balova analyzed the disgusting "statements" that are falsely attributed to Arkada Hakobyan from the "memoirs" of several prosecution witnesses, who, judging by the location of their mobile phones, were not even in the vicinity of the worship building on the day they indicated. At the same time, a number of defense witnesses claim that Hakobyan did not say anything like this either on the specified day or at any time at all. Among the methodological shortcomings of the examination, one can note the fact that the expert ignored the absence of a punctuation mark in the analyzed statement, which allows interpreting it in a completely different way.

The defense submitted a reasoned motion to the court on the need for a new examination. Despite the objection of the public prosecutor, the court ruled to appoint a comprehensive psychological and linguistic examination of the case.

The hearing will continue on April 17, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

Case of Akopyan in Prokhladny

Case History
In the late 1980s, Arkadya Hakobyan, his wife and three children fled ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan. More than 25 years later, as a peaceful elderly man, Arkadia became a victim of religious repression. In June 2016, a criminal case was opened against him for a public speech in which he allegedly humiliated the dignity of followers of other religions. In May 2017, hearings began in the Prokhladnensky District Court, during which it turned out that the testimony of witnesses underlying the case was false, and the expert’s opinion was replete with errors. The prosecutor demanded 3 years of probation for the believer. In December 2018, Judge Oleg Golovashko sentenced the believer to 120 hours of compulsory labor. In March 2019, the Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic overturned the conviction. Hakobyan was cleared of all charges.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Kabardino-Balkaria
Locality:
Cool
Court case number:
73
Initiated:
June 11, 2016
Current case stage:
Case dismissed
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282 (1)
Court case number:
1-7/18
[i18n] Итог дела:
дело прекращено, Аркадя Акопян считается несудимым
[i18n] Расследовалось:
МРСО СУ СК РФ по Кабардино-Балкарской Республике
[i18n] Рассмотрено судом первой инстанции:
Прохладненский районный суд Кабардино-Балкарской Республики
Judge:
Олег Анатольевич Головашко
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Верховный Суд Кабардино-Балкарской Республики
Case History