Court of Appeal in Birobidzhan Upheld the Verdict For Svetlana Monis. A 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence For Her Faith

On February 28, 2023, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region considered the case of Svetlana Monis, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, for the third time. The appeals panel approved the decision of the lower court: for her faith she was found guilty of participating in extremist activity and given a 2.5-year suspended sentence.

In May 2021, the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region replaced the fine imposed on Monis with a 2.5-year suspended imprisonment. Later, the court of cassation overturned this decision. In March 2022, after a second appeal the case was returned to the Birobidzhan District Court for a new trial. This time, the court of first instance imposed a 2.5-year suspended sentence. The prosecutor again requested 4 years imprisonment for the woman. At the same time, the text of his closing argument was identical to what he read out at the first consideration of the case two years earlier. One of the main pieces of evidence of Svetlana's guilt mentioned by the state prosecutor was using the name Jehovah. However, no court has ever forbidden the use of this name; it is found in many translations of the Bible and works of literature.

Svetlana's case is being heard in the courts for the past three years. At the same time, Svetlana's husband, Alam Aliyev, as well as three other believers, are subjected to criminal prosecution. In December 2022, Alam was sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony. He also was  found guilty of extremism only for his peaceful religious beliefs. Now Aliyev is in the Birobidzhan  detention center awaiting an appeal decision.

Svetlana says that from the very beginning of the prosecution in 2018, she and her husband felt the constant support of fellow believers: “[Friends] from other cities were worried, prayed for us, passed letters with words of support, were interested, and through our relatives passed on material assistance.”

In June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights declared the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia unlawful. In its decision, the court ruled that “imposition of criminal sanctions for manifestation of religious beliefs amounts to an interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of religion” (§ 264).