Photo: Orel, Railway Station Square
On May 29, 2018, in the city of Oryol, a preliminary investigation of another criminal case for faith was completed - against 55-year-old Orel resident Sergey Skrynnikov. This is the second such criminal case in the city - after the well-known case of the Danish citizen Dennis Christensen, who has been in jail since May 2017.
The case of Sergey Skrynnikov was initiated by investigator A. Kompaniets on February 20, 2018 under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). A written undertaking not to leave was taken from the believer.
On May 8, 2018, Sergey Skrynnikov was brought in as an accused and interrogated. On the same day, an inspection was carried out in his house, during which not a single object prohibited by law was found. A number of "evidence" in his case, such as linguistic, religious, and computer forensics, were separated from the Christensen case.
This criminal prosecution is a direct consequence of the liquidation and prohibition of registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations. Russian law enforcement officers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens, the right to which has not been abolished, for participation in an extremist organization.
Like Dennis Christensen, Sergey Skrynnikov has never been a member of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Oryol" and has not participated in its activities.
