Photo: Oryol Courthouse

Photo: Oryol Courthouse

Photo: Oryol Courthouse

Criminal trial

May 16, 2018. Review of the hearing in the case of a Danish believer in Oryol

Oryol Region

On May 16, 2018, in the hearing in the case of Dennis Christensen, 2 witnesses for the prosecution were questioned: Aleksandr Chirikov, who lives near the building on Zheleznodorozhnaya Street, where Jehovah's Witnesses held their services, and Vera Banshchikova, a local resident who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.

According to the observations of Chirikov's neighbor, people went to worship "as if on a holiday" - decently dressed, sober, with children. The yard was cleaned, snow was cleaned in winter, and the lawn was mowed in summer. Who supervised the cleaning, who opened and closed the gate, Chirikov did not see. After these words, the state prosecution began to insist that Chirikov's testimony differed from what he told the investigator, namely, that Christensen was in charge of the cleaning and he also locked the gate. The court decided to read out the previous testimony of the witness. The lawyers tried to ask the witness additional questions in order to find out exactly when he told a lie, but the court consistently removed the questions of the defense, not allowing them to end. As a result, the lawyers first asked to record their objections to the judge's actions in the record of the court session, and later challenged him, giving reason to believe that he was interested in a certain outcome of the case. The court retired to the deliberation room and, an hour later, dismissed the challenge.

Witness Vera Ivanovna Banshchikova, a retired pediatrician, has been practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses for about 25 years, moved to Orel in 2008. According to her, Christensen, like herself, read the Bible at worship services. To do this, he went on stage, as well as almost all other believers, as is customary among Jehovah's Witnesses. She had heard that Christensen was an elder, but he hadn't told her about it, and no one had ever titled him like that.

The judge inquired about Banshchikova's attitude to blood transfusions in connection with the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses. Zhenkov's lawyer tried to challenge the judge's questions because they were unrelated to the charges against Christensen and, moreover, the court did not discuss the doctrinal teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. The court rejected this protest, and Banshchikova was forced to give the court the reasons for the fact that she, who had worked as a doctor all her life, decided to look for alternatives to blood transfusions for herself. These are reasons both purely medical and religious, since the Bible has a clear command from the Creator not to use blood.

At this point, the court adjourned. On Monday, May 21, 2018, the interrogation of Vera Banshchikova will continue.

Case of Christensen in Oryol

Case History
Dennis Christensen is the first Jehovah’s Witness in modern Russia to be imprisoned only because of his faith. He was arrested in May 2017. The FSB accused the believer of organizing the activities of a banned organization on the basis of the testimony of a secret witness, theologian Oleg Kurdyumov from a local university, who kept covert audio and video recordings of conversations with Christensen about faith. There are no extremist statements or victims in the case. In 2019, the court sentenced Christensen to 6 years in prison. The believer was serving time in the Lgov colony. He repeatedly asked for the replacement of part of the unserved term with a fine. For the first time, the court granted the request, but the prosecutor’s office appealed this decision, and the prison administration threw the believer into a punishment cell on trumped-up charges. Christensen developed illnesses that prevented him from working in prison. On May 24, 2022, the believer was released after serving his sentence and was immediately deported to his homeland, Denmark.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Oryol Region
Locality:
Oryol
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, together with the others he conducted religious services, which is interpreted as “organising the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the court’s decision on the liquidation of the local organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11707540001500164
Initiated:
May 23, 2017
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
UFSB of Russia in the Oryol region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-37/1
[i18n] Рассмотрено судом первой инстанции:
Железнодорожный районный суд г. Орла
Judge:
Алексей Николаевич Руднев
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Орловский областной суд
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Льговский райсуд Курской области
Case History
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