A believer from Karachay-Cherkessia has been convicted of extremism

A court sentenced Svetlana Ogoreva, a resident of Karachay-Cherkessia, to a suspended sentence, deeming her attendance at Jehovah's Witnesses* services to constitute membership in an extremist organization. The defendant denied the extremism charge.

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," in August 2024, security forces in Karachay-Cherkessia conducted searches at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses* - 62-year-old Maria Ogoreva and her daughter Svetlana Ogoreva, against whom a case was opened in December 2023 for participating in the activities of an extremist organization.

The Zelenchuk District Court sentenced 41-year-old Svetlana Ogoreva to a three-year suspended sentence, deeming her attendance at religious services and discussions of faith to constitute participation in the activities of an extremist organization, a website covering the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses* in Russia reported on October 7.

I am standing before the court not for a bad deed, but for my faith in God.

In her appeal to the judge, Svetlana Ogoreva called her criminal prosecution "unjust and illegal." "After all, I'm standing before the court not for a bad deed, but for my faith in God," she was quoted as saying.

The woman categorically rejected the accusation of extremism. "As for maintaining contact with fellow believers, religion, from the Bible's perspective, cannot exist in a state of chaos; believers cannot be isolated from one another and act in disunity. Otherwise, divisions will arise, and religion itself, that is, the specific denomination, will cease to exist," she stated.

The criminal investigation into her mother, Maria Ogoreva, is still ongoing, the publication notes.

As a reminder, back in October 2021, the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Russia ruled that individual or collective religious practice, religious rites, and ceremonies in themselves should not be considered the activity of an extremist organization unless they contain elements of extremism. However, in practice, state prosecutors ignore this ruling , according to Yaroslav Sivulsky, a lawyer for believers in Neftekumsk and a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Earlier, in October 2020, a court in Kabardino-Balkaria acquitted local Jehovah's Witness* Yuri Zalipaev, who was accused of inciting extremism. In September 2021, the court awarded him 500,000 rubles in compensation , and the prosecutor apologized to the believer for the criminal prosecution. Acquittals for Jehovah's Witnesses* are rare in the Russian judicial system, Yaroslav Sivulsky commented on the court's decision at the time.

On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia, following a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Justice, declared the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia* and its 395 branches extremist organizations, banning their activities. The "Caucasian Knot" covers the consequences of this ban on its dedicated page, " The Ministry of Justice vs. Jehovah's Witnesses *."

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416125

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