Case of 16 Jehovah's Witnesses from Taganrog has no crime attributes, the defence insists

Sergey Vorobyov, Deputy Public Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation has confirmed the indictment on the criminal case against 16 members of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, whose community was liquidated in Taganrog by the court "for extremism." The defence of the believers declares the inconsistency of the charges.

According to investigators, the defendants had resumed the operation of their community in Taganrog despite the ban of the court: they studied the forbidden literature, held meetings, in which they "expressed the ideas that degrade human dignity on the basis of one's attitude to religion and incite hatred to the 'Christian world'," writes the website of the Russia's General Prosecutor's Office (GPO).

All the defendants are under recognizance not to leave, Grigory Martynov, the spokesman for the Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, told in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot".

The defence believes that there are no crime elements in the case; therefore, all of the defendants, the representative of the minor and eight advocates petitioned, after studying the case files, about termination of the criminal case.

Victor Zhenkov, one of the advocates, states that liquidation of a legal entity does not negate the constitutional right to the freedom of religion. The beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses are still lawful throughout Russia, including in Taganrog, the lawyer insists.