Yet Another Guilty Verdict Against One of Jehovah's Witnesses in Oryol. Dmitriy Ignatov Sentenced to 2 Years of Forced Labor

Dmitriy Ignatov, 27, a believer from Oryol, was found guilty of participating in the activity of an extremist organization. That is how Andrey Tretyakov, judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of Oryol, classified "the active study of religious literature" with fellow believers. The verdict was announced on July 24, 2024.

"The charge that was brought against me is like a Christmas ornament: shiny on the outside, but empty on the inside," the believer noted in his final statement. "There are a lot of scary words in it, but there is no concrete evidence." According to Ignatov, the case materials only confirm that he practices the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The believer considers himself innocent and intends to appeal the verdict. "The state prosecutor did not voice even one extremist statement or action on my part at any of the court hearings that would show that I am a criminal and dangerous to others," Dmitriy said. "Because I've never done anything like that. If there had been something, during one year of gathering information about me something would have come to light." The charge was based on the testimony of at least nine witnesses who did not know Ignatov and had not seen him before. The testimony of three witnesses for the prosecution, who did not appear in court, had nothing to do with the case.

Back in December 2020, the Ignatovs' home was searched, their electronic devices were seized, and subsequently their bank accounts were frozen. At that time, Dmitry was a witness in the case of another local believer, Vladimir Piskarev. In October of the following year, the investigator initiated a case against Ignatov under Article 282.2(2) of the RFCrC. For some time, the believer was under surveillance by officers of the Center for Combating Extremism. Dmitriy Ignatov said: "Of course, because of this, we experienced a lot of stress. My wife started having severe migraines. Sometimes she had them every day. Also, we started to suffer from other illnesses which we are still struggling with."

In Oryol, eight Jehovah's Witnesses have faced criminal prosecution because of their faith, three of them are in a penal colony. Dennis Christensen has already been released and deported.