21:51, 17 August 2024

PO apologizes to KBR believer

The Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic. Photo: http://vs.kbr.sudrf.ru/

The Supreme Court (SC) of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) has upheld the acquittal of Kirill Guschin, a Jehovah's Witness*, after which the Prosecutor's Office (PO) apologized for the unjustified criminal prosecution. However, the PO has challenged the verdict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Maisky District Court had found the above Kirill Guschin, a Jehovah's Witness*, not guilty of extremism. Earlier, the prosecutor demanded to sentence him to seven years in penal colony. Guschin was accused of creating an extremist organization and involving other people in its activities. The believer stated that the literature recognized as banned was planted on him by law enforcers.

The acquittal came into force; Kirill Guschin was recognized as having the right to rehabilitation, the human rights project "OVD-Info"** has informed.

*396 Russian organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses are recognized as extremist, and their activities in Russia are banned by court's decision.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 16, 2024 at 03:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot