UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at a press conference at the UN headquarters (New York). Photo source: UN Photo/Laura Jarriel

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at a press conference at the UN headquarters (New York). Photo source: UN Photo/Laura Jarriel

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at a press conference at the UN headquarters (New York). Photo source: UN Photo/Laura Jarriel

Human Rights

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the sentencing of Dennis Christensen

United States of America

On February 7, 2019, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement calling on Russia to drop all charges against Jehovah's Witnesses.

"Christensen's harsh sentence sets a dangerous precedent, criminalizing the right to freedom of religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia ... We urge the Government of Russia to revise the Law on Countering Extremist Activity in order to clarify the vague and open-ended definition of extremist activity and to ensure that the definition requires an element of violence and hostility. We also call on the authorities to drop charges against and release all those detained for exercising their rights to freedom of religion or belief, freedom of expression, and the right to peaceful assembly and association."

Previously, the problem was pointed out by various UN agencies, including the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which called on Russia to abolish the List of Extremist Materials.

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

Christensen
Dennis

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:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of Russia for the Oryol Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-37/1
Considered by the Court of First Instance:
Zheleznodorozhniy District Court of the City of Oryol
Judge:
Aleksey Rudnev
Court of Appeal:
Орловский областной суд
Court of Appeal:
Льговский райсуд Курской области
Case History
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