The case of Rumyantsev and Others in Moscow

The Cheremushkinsky District Court of Moscow elects Alexander Rumyantsev, Eduard Sviridov and Sean Antonio Pike a preventive measure in the form of detention until October 24, 2021 inclusive. They are placed in quarantine for two weeks in pre-trial detention center No. 7 on Verkhniye Polya Street.

Lawyers visit the accused in the pre-trial detention center. It becomes known about the conditions of Sean Pike's detention: the believer is placed in an overcrowded cell, he is forced to sleep on the floor.

Appeals against the election of a preventive measure are filed.

The lawyer reports on the conditions of Sean Pike's detention in the pre-trial detention center: the believer was transferred to another cell, now he has one cellmate and has his own bed. However, Pike began to have health problems: he suffers from a dry cough, periodically he feels a pre-fainting state - the consequences of his stay in the previous cell with smokers and the lack of an extract in the new cell affect. He was denied a doctor's visit.

Employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service have already talked with Sean Pike several times, trying to convince him that Jehovah's Witnesses are banned in Russia. In response, Pike explains that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and did not deprive believers of the right to adhere to their beliefs.

Sean Pike does not lose courage, he is grateful to relatives and friends for their support. So, he received a large parcel from his wife and about 300 letters from fellow believers.

All three believers were sent to the pre-trial detention center-2 "Butyrka", located in Moscow at 45 Novoslobodskaya Street.

As Sean Pike later reports, he is taken out of SIZO-7 at 14:00, and he gets to the new cell in the Butyrka pre-trial detention center only at 5:00 the next day. A lot of time is spent on the road and design.

It is known that Sean Pike in the Butyrka pre-trial detention center is temporarily placed in a quarantine cell designed for 5 people. In this cell he has his own bunk. Relationships with cellmates are built peaceful and calm.

Sean Pike tells his lawyer that he received a Bible in Russian language in the library of the Butyrka pre-trial detention center. He reads it every day, despite the fact that he does not have strong enough glasses with him and Russian is not his native language.

He also draws support from letters from fellow believers. In SIZO-7 he received 80-100 letters at a time, and in the pre-trial detention center "Butyrka" he received only 8 letters so far. He is given enough food. His health condition continues to raise concerns. In this regard, he plans to visit a doctor.

Sean Pike is being transferred to pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Moscow for treatment for covid.

After suffering from covid, Sean Pike is discharged from SIZO-1 in Moscow and transferred back to SIZO-2 "Butyrka".

The Cheremushkinsky District Court of Moscow is holding hearings on the extension of the period of detention of believers. For 10 hours, Sean Pike, Aleksandr Rumyantsev and Eduard Sviridov are kept in a closed cold cell of the detention center, where they are placed in a cage, deprived of food and water throughout the hearing.

Judge Artem Veretennikov refuses to satisfy the defense's petitions necessary for fair justice, interrupts lawyers and accused, and also conducts the trial with significant violations of the criminal procedure law. Thus, the judge refuses to disclose the case materials, refuses to satisfy the defense's request for their disclosure, and also does not allow lawyers to read out transcripts of hidden audio recordings, from which it clearly follows that the believers only drank tea together and watched entertainment programs.

In connection with these violations, the defense is forced not only to ask for objections to the actions of the presiding judge, but also to file a motion for his recusal.

The period of detention of men in custody is extended by 3 months, until January 24, 2022. The defense is appealing.

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office reports that after considering a complaint against the actions of the administration of the Kapotnya pre-trial detention center, where believer Sean Pike was forced to sleep on the floor, the head of the territorial body of the Federal Penitentiary Service was presented with a proposal to eliminate violations.

The lawyer visits Aleksandr Rumyantsev in pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Moscow. The believer feels good. During his stay in this pre-trial detention center, he was placed in three different cells. He is now in a four-bed cell.

Rumyantsev regularly receives parcels from friends with everything he needs, including food. He has his own copy of the Bible, and he receives many letters from fellow believers from Russia and other countries.

One of the difficulties is the inability to see their mother, as the new investigator in the case has not yet given them visits.

It becomes known that Sean Pike, Eduard Sviridov and Alexander Rumyantsev were moved from the pre-trial detention center to the temporary detention facility at the Internal Affairs Directorate for the South-Western District of Moscow to familiarize themselves with the case materials.

After reviewing the case materials, Sean Pike, Eduard Sviridov and Aleksandr Rumyantsev are returned to pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Moscow.

The case of Alexander Rumyantsev, Sean Pike and Eduard Sviridov is submitted to the Cheryomushkinsky District Court of Moscow. It will be considered by judge Sergei Khomyakov.

Eduard Sviridov and Aleksandr Rumyantsev are kept in warm 4-bed cells. According to believers, the food in the pre-trial detention center leaves much to be desired, but relatives order additional food. On the whole, believers are doing well.

Aleksandr notes the good attitude of the employees of the pre-trial detention center. Eduard is the eldest in the cell, he is respected.

Believers have the Bible in different translations. They receive regular letters of support. Eduard has already received more than 3000.

Three female believers are being questioned as witnesses. One of them reports that she has been practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses since the days of the USSR, when there were no legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses, refuting the prosecution's version that all Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow are united in a local religious organization registered only in 2015.

Answering some questions, witnesses use Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which causes disagreement of the judge. The judge takes away from them the written notes prepared by them, contrary to the right to use them enshrined in the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation.

There are more than 15 people in the meeting room and about 40 more people are waiting outside. All of them came to support the defendants.

Eduard Sviridov challenges his lawyer, arguing that the defender is biased and violates the requirements of the Code of Professional Ethics of a Lawyer and the Federal Law "On the Bar and Advocacy in the Russian Federation". Sviridov says: "[The lawyer] not only does not support my position based on the provisions of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation "On Judicial Practice in Cases of Extremist Orientation", but also challenges it with his statements ... The law prohibits a lawyer from making public statements about proving the client's guilt if he denies it. The defender makes hints that clearly violate these provisions." In addition, according to Sviridov, the lawyer did not take advantage of the offer of his former colleague to testify in defense of the believer.

The judge rejects Sviridov's petition. Then the lawyer asks for self-recusal, and the court grants her request.

Due to the employment of the judge, the hearing begins only at 20:00. Eduard Sviridov's new lawyer is present. A believer is interrogated as a witness explaining why he personally professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Sean Pike, Alexander Rumyantsev and Eduard Sviridov participate in the appeal hearing on mitigation of the measure of restraint via video conferencing.

The defense files a motion for the inclusion of a reference from the school of the eldest daughter of Sean Pike. The document refers to the friendliness and peacefulness of the teenager, as well as the loving and warm atmosphere prevailing in the family. Explaining to the court the reason for such a petition, the lawyer states: "Children are a mirror of the family. This characterization reaffirms Pike's moral values as one of Jehovah's Witnesses."

The court attaches the document, but leaves the believers in custody.

The prosecutor requests 8 years in prison for Aleksandr Rumyantsev, Sean Pike and Eduard Sviridov.