May 16, 2018. Review of the hearing in the case of a Danish believer in Oryol

On May 16, 2018, in the hearing in the case of Dennis Christensen, 2 witnesses for the prosecution were questioned: Aleksandr Chirikov, who lives near the building on Zheleznodorozhnaya Street, where Jehovah's Witnesses held their services, and Vera Banshchikova, a local resident who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.

According to the observations of Chirikov's neighbor, people went to worship "as if on a holiday" - decently dressed, sober, with children. The yard was cleaned, snow was cleaned in winter, and the lawn was mowed in summer. Who supervised the cleaning, who opened and closed the gate, Chirikov did not see. After these words, the state prosecution began to insist that Chirikov's testimony differed from what he told the investigator, namely, that Christensen was in charge of the cleaning and he also locked the gate. The court decided to read out the previous testimony of the witness. The lawyers tried to ask the witness additional questions in order to find out exactly when he told a lie, but the court consistently removed the questions of the defense, not allowing them to end. As a result, the lawyers first asked to record their objections to the judge's actions in the record of the court session, and later challenged him, giving reason to believe that he was interested in a certain outcome of the case. The court retired to the deliberation room and, an hour later, dismissed the challenge.

Witness Vera Ivanovna Banshchikova, a retired pediatrician, has been practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses for about 25 years, moved to Orel in 2008. According to her, Christensen, like herself, read the Bible at worship services. To do this, he went on stage, as well as almost all other believers, as is customary among Jehovah's Witnesses. She had heard that Christensen was an elder, but he hadn't told her about it, and no one had ever titled him like that.

The judge inquired about Banshchikova's attitude to blood transfusions in connection with the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses. Zhenkov's lawyer tried to challenge the judge's questions because they were unrelated to the charges against Christensen and, moreover, the court did not discuss the doctrinal teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. The court rejected this protest, and Banshchikova was forced to give the court the reasons for the fact that she, who had worked as a doctor all her life, decided to look for alternatives to blood transfusions for herself. These are reasons both purely medical and religious, since the Bible has a clear command from the Creator not to use blood.

At this point, the court adjourned. On Monday, May 21, 2018, the interrogation of Vera Banshchikova will continue.