Perm Regional Court. Photo source: AndreyIGOSHEV / CC BY-SA 3.0

Criminal trial

On Monday, the Perm Regional Court Will Consider the Complaint of Aleksey Metsger On a Criminal Conviction For Faith

Perm Territory

On January 13, 2020, the Perm Regional Court will hold an appeal hearing on the complaint of Alexei Metzger, who was found guilty two months ago under a criminal article for his faith (with a fine of 350 thousand rubles). The meeting starts at 9:30 local time. Court address: Perm, Ekaterininskaya str., 33.

Earlier, on November 14, 2019, the Ordzhonikidze District Court found this resident of Perm guilty under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in extremist activities). The accusation is based on two episodes that the investigation considered evidence of "extremist activity": a lecture on a biblical topic and a private conversation in the apartment of one of the believers. At the same time, other participants in the events, including prosecution witnesses, testified at the trial that they had not heard any extremist statements or calls for illegal actions from the defendant.

"The verdict is subject to cancellation, since the court unreasonably recognized as a crime my peaceful actions to practice my unbanned religion of Jehovah's Witnesses," Alexei Metzger said in his complaint. The believer hopes that the court of appeal will be able to restore justice in this case.

Case of Metsger in Perm

Case History
On April 25, 2019, A. E. Leontiev, investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Perm Territory, opened a criminal case against 43-year-old Aleksey Metzger for participation in extremist activities (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) solely on the basis that he professes the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is based on audio recordings of peaceful discussion of biblical teachings by believers. Aleksey’s case was separated from the criminal case of Aleksandr Solovyov, another believer from Perm. Thanks to his faith, Alexey was able to get rid of bad habits and create a strong family. Despite all this, the investigation charged a simple civil engineer with a serious criminal article. On November 14, 2019, Judge Svetlana Chereneva from the Ordzhonikidze District Court of Perm found the believer guilty and sentenced him to a fine of 350 thousand rubles. The Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal against the decision of the lower court.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Perm Territory
Locality:
Perm
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, he "propagandized the activity of a banned organization, directly pa​rticipated in the events conducted by Jehovah's Witnesses, and commited other actions aimed at conducting and participating in such events"
Court case number:
11902570030000022
Initiated:
June 10, 2019
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Perm Territory
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-461/2019
Court:
Орджоникидзевский районный суд Перми
Judge:
Светлана Черенева
Case History