Case of Levchuk and Britvin in Beryozovsky

Investigator of the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia in the Kemerovo Region, Senior Lieutenant of Justice E. Suspitsyn, having considered the report of the crime, decides to initiate a criminal case under Part 2. Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The judge of the Central District Court of Kemerovo, Irina Ivanova, makes a decision to allow a search of Levchuk.

Sergey Britvin was searched and taken to a pre-trial detention center.

Vadim Levchuk was detained and taken to his home. He was searched. A search report has been drawn up.

Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk were detained. Detention protocols have been drawn up. Both were questioned as suspects. Interrogation protocols have been drawn up.

Judge Natalia Naumova from the Central District Court of Kemerovo makes a decision on the election of a measure of restraint in the form of detention in relation to Britvin and Levchuk for 1 month and 28 days, i.e. until 19.09.2018.

Appeal hearing. Judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court Irina Karimova decides to leave the measure of restraint for Britvin unchanged. Judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court Elena Tiunova decides to leave unchanged the measure of restraint for Levchuk.

The judge of the Central District Court of Kemerovo, Irina Ivanova, makes a decision to extend the period of detention of Britvin and Levchuk in custody for another 2 months, i.e. until 19.11.2018.

Judge S. Zarina of the Kemerovo Regional Court makes a decision to leave unchanged the decision to extend the first period of detention of Levchuk.

Judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court Olga Plastinina upholds the decision to extend the first term of Britvin's detention.

The Chairman of the Central District Court of Kemerovo, Inna Mikhailenko, makes a decision to extend the second period of detention of Britvin and Levchuk in custody for 2 months, i.e. until 19.01.2019.

The judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court, Alina Lazareva, makes a decision to leave unchanged the decision to extend Britvin's second custody.

Judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court Vera Slesareva makes a decision to leave unchanged the second decision on the extension of Levchuk's detention.

Senior investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate for the Kemerovo Region E. Efimov decides to re-charge Levchuk and Britvin with committing a crime, reclassifying it from part 2 to part 1 of article 282.2.

The judge of the Central District Court of Kemerovo, Alexander Vyalov, makes a decision to extend the third term of detention of Britvin and Levchuk for 2 months, i.e. until 19.03.2019.

Senior investigator of the Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate for the Kemerovo Region E. Efimov decides to re-charge Levchuk with committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2

E. Efimov, senior investigator of the Kemerovo Region Directorate of the FSB, decides to re-charge Britvin with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2.

Familiarization of the accused with the materials of the case begins.

Appeal hearing. Judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court Elena Volkova upholds the decision to extend the period of Levchuk's detention.

Appeal hearing. Judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court Irina Bilograd upholds the decision to extend Britvin's detention.

Judge Ivanova makes a decision to extend the fourth term of detention of Britvin and Levchuk for 2 months, i.e. until 19.05.2019.

Appeal hearing. The decision to extend the measure of restraint was left unchanged.

Judge of the Central District Court of Kemerovo Elena Lapina orders to extend the period of detention of Britvin and Levchuk for 2 months, i.e. until July 19, 2019.

A protocol on familiarization with the materials of the criminal case was signed. When signing, petitions were filed: to terminate the criminal case; on the admission of written documents as evidence in a criminal case; on the delivery of a copy of the indictment to the defense counsel; on changing the measure of restraint for the accused Britvin; on the inclusion in the indictment of the list of persons to be summoned to the court session as witnesses.

Appeal hearing on the extension of custody. The measure of restraint was upheld.

Lawyer Vitaliy Svintsov receives an indictment dated 31.05.2019 on charges of Britvin and Levchuk. An appeal against the decision of the Central District Court of Kemerovo to dismiss the appeal against the challenge of defense counsel is being considered.

The lawyer is filing an appeal with the Kemerovo Regional Court against the decision of the Berezovsky City Court of 13.06.2019 to extend the period of detention for Britvin and Levchuk until December 3, 2019.

The hearing on the merits. The hearing in the Berezovsky City Court was postponed due to the fact that Sergey Britvin was sent for a medical examination to a correctional colony. The meeting was postponed to July 30, 2019.

Appeal hearing on the extension of the measure of restraint. The court shall issue a ruling on the adjournment of the court session due to untimely notification of the accused about the court session. The hearing was postponed until July 15, 2019.

Appeal hearing on the extension of the measure of restraint. It was postponed due to poor video conferencing with the pre-trial detention center where the accused are being held.

Appeal hearing on the extension of the measure of restraint. The measure of restraint was upheld.

Britvin and Levchuk were charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The hearing on the merits begins in the Berezovsky City Court. The meeting was postponed due to Britvin's presence in a medical facility.

The lawyer submits a cassation appeal to the Presidium of the Kemerovo Regional Court against the decision of the Berezovsky City Court of 13.06.2019 and the decision of the Kemerovo Regional Court of 19.07.2019.

Judge Vorobyova I. Y. satisfies the petition for the release of the defendants from the cage for the duration of the trial. The public prosecutor issues an indictment. The order of examination of evidence is determined. The questioning of prosecution witnesses has begun.

The deputy head of the convoy refuses to obey the judge's order and release the defendants Britvin and Levchuk from the cage. As a result, the defendants remain in the cage despite the court order that has entered into force on their release from it for the entire duration of the trial. Six prosecution witnesses are being questioned.

The judge of the Kemerovo Regional Court refuses to transfer the cassation appeal dated 30.07.2019 to the Presidium of the Regional Court.

Prosecution witnesses are being questioned, including secret witness Dmitry Vasin (in reality: Yevgeny Denisovich Gomoyunov), as well as FSB operative Zadorin. A petition for the interrogation of a secret witness in accordance with the general procedure shall be filed. The court refuses, the witness is interrogated in a separate room with a changed voice.

Interrogation of prosecution witnesses.

Interrogation of prosecution witnesses, including senior media relations specialist of the Berezovsky police department Onischuk S.V. and neighbors of the defendants.

The lawyer submits a cassation appeal against the decision of the Berezovsky City Court of 13.06.2019 and the decision of the Kemerovo Regional Court of 19.07.2019 (on the measure of restraint) to the higher Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

A motion is filed to merge the criminal cases of Britvin and Levchuk with the criminal case of Hasan Kogut, which is currently being considered by the same court. The court rejects this request. Interrogation of prosecution witnesses, as well as Kogut himself. Actively quotes the Bible during interrogation.

Prosecution witnesses do not appear at the hearing.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation satisfies the cassation appeal against the decision of the Berezovsky City Court of 13.06.2019 and the decision of the Kemerovo Regional Court of 19.07.2019 (on the measure of restraint). Judge of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Vasily Zykin, having studied the circumstances of the case, notes that the decision on the 6-month extension of the period of detention of Kemerovo residents Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk "cannot be recognized as lawful and justified." The Supreme Court refers the cassation appeal for consideration to the newly created Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction (located in the city of Kemerovo).

The Berezovsky City Court extends the period of detention of Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk for another 3 months, that is, until March 3, 2020.

The lawyer is filing an appeal with the Kemerovo Regional Court against the decision of the Berezovsky City Court of 27.11.2019 to extend the period of detention for Britvin and Levchuk until March 3, 2020.

The Kemerovo Regional Court changes the decision of the Berezovsky City Court of 27.11.2019 (on a 3-month extension of the period of detention of believers) and assigns them house arrest. On the same day, the Eighth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction cancels the appeal decision of the Kemerovo Regional Court of 19.07.2019 (on a 6-month extension of the period of detention of believers) and returns the case to the Kemerovo Regional Court for the appeal stage.

Late in the evening, Levchuk and Britvin are released from the pre-trial detention center. They are placed under house arrest.

Hearing in the Berezovsky City Court. Vadim Levchuk testified.

Meeting in the Kemerovo Regional Court to consider an appeal against the extension of the period of detention until 03.12.2019 after the return of the case from the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation and the 8th Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction. The decision of the court of first instance to extend the detention was canceled, the proceedings on the appeal were terminated.

Sergey Britvin is being interrogated. In his talk, he talks about how, thanks to the Bible, he turned from a street boxer and drinker leading an immoral lifestyle into a decent person. Sergey also shares how advice from the Bible and communication with Jehovah's Witnesses helped him save his marriage, which was on the verge of collapse. The believer emphasizes that he did not call for the severance of family and family relations with people who do not share the religious views of Jehovah's Witnesses, as the investigation claims.

The defense is petitioning for changes in the conditions of detention of Britvin and Levchuk under house arrest. The court partially satisfies the petitions: Sergey Britvin is allowed daily hourly walks in the daytime. Also, both believers can now use the means of communication to communicate with lawyers.

More than 40 people attended the hearing.

The questioning of defense witnesses begins. The first to testify are the 80-year-old mother and sons of Vadim Levchuk, then the brother of Sergey Britvin. Relatives who do not share the views of Jehovah's Witnesses explain that they never noticed any extremist manifestations in the actions and words of Vadim and Sergey, nor did they hear negative statements about people of other faiths.

The defense summons three more witnesses who distinguish between the concepts of "meeting" and "LRO", and also convincingly show that since February 2017 and, especially, after the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, no activity has been carried out by the LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in Mr. Berezovsky.

Due to the fact that the criminal case against Britvin and Levchuk "is particularly difficult due to the large number of volumes (20) of the case, witnesses for the prosecution and defense," the judge issues a decision to extend the house arrest of believers "with previously established prohibitions" until June 3.

Three other defence witnesses are being questioned.

In Kemerovo, an appeal hearing is being held on a complaint against the refusal to change the prohibitions and restrictions on house arrest. The court upheld the chosen measure of restraint.

The Kemerovo Regional Court is considering appeals against the extension of the terms of house arrest of Britvin and Levchuk and leaves unchanged the decision of the Berezovsky City Court.

In the Berezovsky City Court of the Kemerovo Region, prosecution witnesses are being questioned - FSB investigators who personally participated in searches, interrogations and other investigative actions. Sergey Britvin, Vadim Levchuk and their lawyers object and ask to postpone the hearing in order to prepare questions for the investigators. Judge Irina Vorobyova refuses.

The FSB investigators claim in their testimony that the interrogations and searches were carried out "very humanely and kindly."

The court also summons prosecution witness Yevgeny Gomoyunov (he was previously questioned as secret witness Dmitry Vasin). He repeats the testimony given at the meeting on August 20, 2019.

At the request of the lawyer, the judge admits four listeners to the hall, provided that they maintain social distance.

The court interrogates a defense witness - the general director of the enterprise where Vadim Levchuk previously worked. He characterizes the defendant as a responsible, executive, non-confrontational employee who has never tried to impose his beliefs on others. He also expresses his conviction that Vadim does not pose any threat to society and the state.

Further, the court interrogates the last witness for the defense, Vadim Levchuk's daughter-in-law. She speaks warmly of the defendant, talks about family traditions and notes that, despite differences in religious views, they have never had conflicts on this basis. According to the witness, she is not afraid to leave her young daughter with Vadim and his wife, knowing that they will not cause any harm to the child.

The judge grants Levchuk's petition for a partial viewing of the video recording of the service. The shooting was previously stated as material evidence of the guilt of the defendants in organizing the activities of the banned LRO.

Irina Vorobyova rejects the repeated petition to declassify the identity of Dmitry Vasin and interrogate him in the courtroom. The meeting was adjourned to the next day.

The judge grants the prosecutor's request to extend the period of detention of believers Britvin and Levchuk under house arrest. The preventive measure remains until September 3, 2020.

On July 2, 2020, the debate of the parties is scheduled.

The arguments of the parties shall be adjourned due to the leave of the judge. The prosecutor's speech will take place on July 28, and the defense will take place on August 18 and, if necessary, on August 19.

Speaking during the debate in the Berezovsky City Court of the Kemerovo Region, the state prosecutor recommends that the judge appoint Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk to 6.5 years in a general regime colony plus restriction of liberty for one year in accordance with Article 53 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Also, the state prosecutor asks to set off as punishment the term of imprisonment in the pre-trial detention center, where each of them spent 524 days, as well as the term of house arrest. Believers deny any involvement in extremism. They are scheduled to speak in the debate on 18 and 19 August 2020.

The meeting is postponed to September 2, 2020. On this day, the court may announce the verdict to Levchuk and Britvin.

There are more than 30 listeners in the hall of the Berezovsky City Court. Sergey Britvin addresses the court with the last word of the defendant. Following him, Vadim Levchuk speaks with the last word . The court retires to the deliberation room. Judge Irina Vorobyova announces the verdict: to find them guilty and sentence them to 4 years in prison in a penal colony. In addition, they will be subject to another 1 year of restriction of freedom and they will be banned from holding certain positions for another 3 years. The court's decision has not entered into force. Believers will appeal against it.