Olga Zhelavskaya on the day of the verdict

Olga Zhelavskaya on the day of the verdict

Olga Zhelavskaya on the day of the verdict

Unjust Verdicts

Court of Appeal Upheld the Verdict Against Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk — 2-Year Suspended Sentence for Her Faith in Jehovah God

Chelyabinsk Region

On June 30, 2023, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court upheld the verdict against Olga Zhelavskaya, 61 — a 2-year suspended sentence for reading the Bible and it has entered into force. The believer has the right to appeal the verdict in the cassation procedure.

In her final statement before the court of appeal, Zhelavskaya drew attention to the lack of grounds for this court decision: “In the court of first instance, the prosecution never mentioned any actions of extremist nature on my part... No quotes, no facts, no records, no casualties".

Vyacheslav Lebedev,chairman of the RF Supreme Court, said at a meeting of judges of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts: “The increased standards for protecting the constitutional rights of citizens are provided by the explanations of the Supreme Court that actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.”

The Case of Zhelavskaya in Chelyabinsk

Case History
Olga Zhelavskaya from Chelyabinsk faced prosecution for her faith in March 2019, when her apartment was searched as part of the case against Vladimir Suvorov. Two years later, investigator Aleksandr Chepenko initiated a criminal case against the believer based on the testimony of the undercover agent Ruzayeva. Zhelavskaya was charged with participating in the activity of an extremist organization. According to the investigation her unlawful actions consisted of inviting guests to her place, praying and singing songs with her friends. In the fall of 2021, while under investigation, the believer suffered from COVID-19 and had a stroke. In August 2022, her case went to court. In April 2023, she was given a 2-year suspended sentence. In June 2023 the court of appeal upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Zhelavskaya
Olga

Criminal case

Region:
Chelyabinsk Region
Locality:
Chelyabinsk
Suspected of:
"acted out of religious motives" and participated in "collective worship consisting in successive performances of songs... and prayers to Jehovah God, study and discussion of articles and religious texts" (from the decision to initiate criminal proceedings).
Court case number:
12202750030000018
Initiated:
August 31, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Third Department for Investigating Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-27/2023 (1-528/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Metallurgicheskiy District Court of the City of Chelyabinsk
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Aleksandr Shatskiy
Case History
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