In the photo: Nikolay Aliyev

In the photo: Nikolay Aliyev

In the photo: Nikolay Aliyev

Unjust Verdicts

Appeal in Khabarovsk Upholds the Verdict for Faith to 42-Year-Old Nikolay Aliyev

Khabarovsk Territory

On September 2, 2021, the Khabarovsk Regional Court upheld the sentence for faith handed down to Nikolay Aliyev — 4.5 years of probation. The verdict entered into force, but it can be appealed in cassation and international instances.

On June 4, 2021, the Central District Court of Komsomolsk-on-Amur passed a guilty verdict on Nikolay Aliyev. The believer appealed this decision to the appellate instance. According to Aliyev, his convictions are incomparable with extremism.

“At first it was hard to believe that this (criminal prosecution — ed.) Is actually happening to me. It seemed that it was some kind of scary movie that never ends,— says Nikolay, adding that God and fellow believers help him not to get angry. — In winter, fellow believers came to the courthouse before the trial to support me. When the hearing was held behind closed doors, many of them stood in the cold for one and a half to two hours and waited for the trial to end and I leave."

Although the Supreme Court did not prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from practicing this religion, already 20 believers from the Khabarovsk Territory have been prosecuted.

The joint statement of the OSCE participating States on July 28, 2020 concerning the situation of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation noted: “We have repeatedly heard from the Russian delegation at meetings of the Permanent Council that Jehovah's Witnesses profess and can continue to profess their faith freely. and freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Russian Federation. However, we see numerous reports of searches, detentions and criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses [...] All people, including Jehovah's Witnesses, should be able to peacefully exercise their rights, including the right to freedom of religion, peaceful assembly and expression of their opinion without discrimination, like this guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Russia's commitments to the OSCE and international law ”.

The case of Aliyev in Komsomolsk-on-Amur

Case History
Early in May 2020, a detachment of armed law enforcers burst into Nikolai Aliev’s apartment with a search, knocking the believer to the floor. The Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region opened a criminal case against him under two parts of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The investigator suspected the peaceful citizen of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and being involved in it. The basis for the accusation was hidden video recordings of Aliyev’s conversations with a man who portrayed an interest in the Bible. Since October 2020, the case has been under consideration in court. In June 2021, the court found the believer guilty and sentenced him to 4.5 years of suspended imprisonment with restriction of liberty for 1 year and 2 months. The appellate and cassation instances upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Aliyev
Nikolay

Criminal case

Region:
Khabarovsk Territory
Locality:
Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Suspected of:
"I spent ... conversations, propagandizing and justifying the activities of a banned religious (extremist) organization, taught its teachings" (from the decision to bring as an accused)
Court case number:
12002080009000066
Initiated:
April 30, 2020
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
SO in the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-86/2021 (1-905/2020)
Court:
Центральный районный суд г. Комсомольска-на-Амуре
Judge:
Наталья Гуркова
Case History