The Tomsk Prosecutor's Office requested 7 years in prison for Sergey Klimov because of his religion

On October 21, 2019, the hearing in the case of Sergey Klimov, who is accused of extremism only because he did not stop practicing his religion after the decision of the Supreme Court, continued in Tomsk. The prosecutor's office believes that this "crime" should be punishable by 7 years in prison.

The believer is being tried under Part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization). Speaking in the debate in the Oktyabrsky District Court of Tomsk, the prosecutor said that all evidence of Klimov's "extremist activities" had been found, for example, making speeches and singing songs. At the same time, the prosecutor admitted that the defendant's legal involvement in the banned religious organization has not been established, however, according to the prosecution, there are signs indicating his role as a "de facto leader" and "spiritual leader".

The prosecutor's office requested for the defendant a sentence of 7 years in prison with serving in a penal colony of general regime, plus another year and a half of restriction of freedom. It is also proposed to ban educational activities and post any materials on the Internet for 8 years.

The next court hearing is scheduled for October 28, after which the verdict is expected.

Sergey Klimov has been in pre-trial detention for more than a year, since June 3, 2018.

On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses or restrict the right of citizens to practice it, which was then further clarified by the Government of the Russian Federation.