Photo: Sergey Skrynnikov

Photo: Sergey Skrynnikov

Photo: Sergey Skrynnikov

Unjust Verdicts

An appeals court in Oryol upheld the conviction of a second believer

Oryol Region

On June 13, 2019, a panel of three judges of the Oryol Regional Court upheld the verdict of the district court, according to which Sergey Skrynnikov was sentenced to a large fine for his faith.

Earlier, on April 1, 2019, Gleb Noskov, judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Orel, announced his decision to find Sergey Skrynnikov guilty under the article "participation in the activities of an extremist organization" (part 2 of article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and sentence him to a fine in the amount of 350 thousand rubles. At the same time, the judge considered far-fetched the accusations of calls for the destruction of the family and non-recognition of authority, which were put forward against the believer by the investigators and prosecutors.

The case against Sergey Skrynnikov was separated from the criminal case of Dennis Christensen, whom the same court sent to a colony for 6 years.

A huge number of Russian and international figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually."

Case of Skrynnikov in Oryol

Case History
The second Jehovah’s Witness in Oryol to be prosecuted after Dane Dennis Christensen was a school physical education teacher, Sergey Skrynnikov. In February 2018, the investigator of the Investigative Committee for the Oryol Region, A.O. Kompaniets, opened a criminal case against the believer for “participation in the activities of an extremist organization.” Later, an inspection was carried out in his house, during which law enforcement officers did not find anything prohibited. Having neither evidence of guilt nor victims in the case, the prosecutor Naumova requested 3 years in a general regime colony for Sergey. On April 1, 2019, Gleb Noskov, a judge of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Orel, found the believer guilty and sentenced him to pay a fine of 350,000 rubles. The appellate instance did not change this decision. On October 9, 2019, a complaint was filed with the ECHR in the Skrynnikov case.
Timeline

Persons in case

Skrynnikov
Sergey

Criminal case

Region:
Oryol Region
Locality:
Oryol
Suspected of:
according to the investigation he participated in religious services, which is interpreted as participating in the activity of an extremist organisation (with reference to the decision of the Russian Supreme Court on the liquidation of all 396 registered organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11802540002000011
Initiated:
February 20, 2018
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Oryol Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-3/2019 (1-121/2018)
Court case number:
1 – 121/2018
Examines on the merits:
Zheleznodorozhniy District Court of the City of Oryol
Judge:
Gleb Noskov
Case History
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