Criminal trial

May 14, 2018. Review of the hearing in the case of a Danish believer in Oryol

Oryol Region

The Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Oryol continued the hearing in the criminal case of Dennis Christensen, who has been in the local pre-trial detention center for almost a year for his faith.

The meeting opened at 10:40 a.m. Three prosecution witnesses appeared in court. Their rights and obligations were explained to them and they were invited to the hall one by one.

The first to be interviewed was the district police officer Maxim Ranev, on whose territory there is a building in which Jehovah's Witnesses held their services. After the court decision to liquidate and ban the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, Orel, Ranev did not visit this building, did not go inside. He also explained that he could not distinguish the activities of a religious group from the activities of the LRO, since he did not have the right to conduct operational-search activities.

The second witness for the prosecution, Eduard Gavrikov, said that his mother, with whom he does not live, professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Gavrikov honestly admitted that he treats Jehovah's Witnesses negatively, considers this religion to be false. He knows about divine services from the words of his mother. Christensen came to his mother's apartment to help rescue her niece, who could not leave the bathroom because of a broken lock. When Gavrikov was asked what he meant by the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, he replied that they were people who believed in Jehovah God. He never attended the services of the Witnesses because he did not see the point in it. He himself is Orthodox, he was baptized in the Orthodox Church, by his own admission, without asking for his consent.

The third witness for the prosecution, Pavel Azarenkov, is an FSB detective. He kept an eye on Christensen at the place of worship. Everything was recorded on special audio and video recording equipment. Before the defense could ask the witness their questions, the court adjourned until May 15, 2018.

Case of Christensen in Oryol

Case History
Dennis Christensen is the first Jehovah’s Witness in modern Russia to be imprisoned only because of his faith. He was arrested in May 2017. The FSB accused the believer of organizing the activities of a banned organization on the basis of the testimony of a secret witness, theologian Oleg Kurdyumov from a local university, who kept covert audio and video recordings of conversations with Christensen about faith. There are no extremist statements or victims in the case. In 2019, the court sentenced Christensen to 6 years in prison. The believer was serving time in the Lgov colony. He repeatedly asked for the replacement of part of the unserved term with a fine. For the first time, the court granted the request, but the prosecutor’s office appealed this decision, and the prison administration threw the believer into a punishment cell on trumped-up charges. Christensen developed illnesses that prevented him from working in prison. On May 24, 2022, the believer was released after serving his sentence and was immediately deported to his homeland, Denmark.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Oryol Region
Locality:
Oryol
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, together with the others he conducted religious services, which is interpreted as “organising the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the court’s decision on the liquidation of the local organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11707540001500164
Initiated:
May 23, 2017
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
UFSB of Russia in the Oryol region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-37/1
[i18n] Рассмотрено судом первой инстанции:
Железнодорожный районный суд г. Орла
Judge:
Алексей Николаевич Руднев
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Орловский областной суд
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Льговский райсуд Курской области
Case History