Photo: jw-russia.org website page

Photo: jw-russia.org website page

Photo: jw-russia.org website page

Legal Victories

The Court of Appeal overturned the decision to ban the jw-russia.org website

Kabardino-Balkaria

On May 30, 2018, the Supreme Court of Kabardino-Balkaria overturned a lower court's decision to block four websites, including the official website of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia (jw-russia.org).

Earlier, in February 2018, the prosecutor's office of the city of Prokhladny (Kabardino-Balkaria) filed a lawsuit with the Prokhladnensky District Court to block the jw-russia.org website in Russia, as well as three other unrelated sites about Jehovah's Witnesses. The reason for the prosecutor's appeal, presumably, was the article "A peaceful respected person is tried for his faith in the Elbrus region", dedicated to the unfair criminal prosecution of 70-year-old local believer Arkadi Hakobyan.

District Court Judge Tahir Metselov declined to involve the Watch Tower, Bible, and Tract Society of Pennsylvania in the case, despite the fact that the Society claimed its rights to the jw-russia.org site, indicated the existence of a copyright mark on the site, and sent a representative to protect its rights. As a result, the case was heard with the participation of only Assistant Prosecutor D.S. Chapsky, who stated that the sites should be banned only because they contain information about Jehovah's Witnesses. At the hearing, the court did not access the Internet and did not investigate the sites.

On March 20, 2018, the Prokhladnensky District Court granted the prosecutor's claim, deciding to restrict access to this site. However, now, 2 months later, the Court of Appeal has overturned and dismissed the case.

Case of Akopyan in Prokhladny

Case History
In the late 1980s, Arkadya Hakobyan, his wife and three children fled ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan. More than 25 years later, as a peaceful elderly man, Arkadia became a victim of religious repression. In June 2016, a criminal case was opened against him for a public speech in which he allegedly humiliated the dignity of followers of other religions. In May 2017, hearings began in the Prokhladnensky District Court, during which it turned out that the testimony of witnesses underlying the case was false, and the expert’s opinion was replete with errors. The prosecutor demanded 3 years of probation for the believer. In December 2018, Judge Oleg Golovashko sentenced the believer to 120 hours of compulsory labor. In March 2019, the Supreme Court of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic overturned the conviction. Hakobyan was cleared of all charges.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Kabardino-Balkaria
Locality:
Prokhladny
Court case number:
73
Initiated:
June 11, 2016
Current case stage:
case dismissed
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-7/18
[i18n] Итог дела:
дело прекращено, Аркадя Акопян считается несудимым
[i18n] Расследовалось:
МРСО СУ СК РФ по Кабардино-Балкарской Республике
[i18n] Рассмотрено судом первой инстанции:
Прохладненский районный суд Кабардино-Балкарской Республики
Judge:
Олег Анатольевич Головашко
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Верховный Суд Кабардино-Балкарской Республики
Case History
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