The trial on the merits of the case over the religion of two residents of the Kemerovo region has begun. Hearings will be held in August-September

In the city of Berezovsky (Kemerovo region), hearings began on the criminal case against Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk. Both of them have been in jail for more than a year. The next meetings are scheduled for 20 and 21 August, 3, 4, 17 and 18 September 2019. Read the details of the hearings in the chronicle of the trial.

The hearings are being held in the Berezovsky City Court of the Kemerovo Region under the chairmanship of Judge Irina Vorobyova. Both believers are accused of organizing religious activities, which is interpreted by law enforcement agencies as extremism (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to friends Sergey and Vadim, they radiate optimism. In July, Sergey Britvin was in a prison hospital, but now his condition has improved. Sergey is a disabled person of group II, by profession he is a driver and crane operator. Vadim Levchuk worked as a miner for many years, has gratitude from the company for conscientious work.

The life of two peaceful residents of Berezovka changed abruptly on July 22, 2018, when a wave of searches took place in the apartments of believers in the city. One of the believers received a slight bodily injury during the storming of the apartment. Two days later, on July 24, the judge of the Central District Court of Kemerovo, Natalia Naumova, decided to detain Britvin and Levchuk in custody of pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Kemerovo. Later, the court transferred them to SIZO-4 in the city of Anzhero-Sudzhensk, where they are still staying.

The law enforcement agencies of the Kemerovo region are convinced that residents of the region cannot profess the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the fact that this right is guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Believers insist that they have nothing to do with extremism. The Russian government confirmed that the decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban their organizations "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor do they contain restrictions or prohibitions on the individual practice of the above-mentioned doctrine."