In Penza, the prosecutor asked Vladimir Alushkin for 7 years of real prison! The supervisory body ignored the opinion of the UN on this case

Andrey Magliv, Vladimir Kulyasov, Denis Timoshin were sentenced to 4 years in prison, and Tatyana Alushkina and Galiya Olkhova were sentenced to 3 years each. Everyone except Vladimir Alushkin is asked by the prosecutor to replace the prison with forced labor. Meanwhile, the UN Working Group officially recognized Alushkin's arrest as arbitrary.

The prosecutor requested such severe sanctions on December 5, 2019, speaking in a debate in the Leninsky District Court of Penza. All the "guilt" of peaceful Penza residents is faith in Jehovah God. Six people are defendants in the case. Four men are under house arrest and two women are under recognizance agreement. The case is replete with falsifications and inconsistencies. Believers are accused of extremism, although these accusations are not confirmed by witnesses or international arbitrators. A crime is called a joint discussion of the Bible, singing songs with fellow believers, conversations with others about God. Investigators unreasonably consider these actions to be the organization of the activities of a religious organization banned in Russia, although the Supreme Court of Russia did not prohibit the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses itself.

Even before the arrest, the special services monitored the believers for several months, then in July 2018 they staged mass searches and detentions. Vladimir Alushkin, whom the prosecutor's office considers the "leader" of local believers, was sent by the court to a pre-trial detention center, where he stayed for about six months and was then released under house arrest.

The defense tried to appeal against the arrest and measure of restraint of the believers, demanding that the appellate instances declare them illegal. However, the judges of the Penza Regional Court refused to do this and repeatedly extended the terms of the preventive measure.

At the same time, the panel of judges ignores the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, according to which the activities, in particular, of Vladimir Alushkin (and since he is called the "leader", the rest of the arrested Jehovah's Witnesses) cannot be considered extremist. "All the activities in which Alushkin took part are an absolutely peaceful religious discussion," the UN Working Group said in a document.

During the trial, several witnesses, including the main prosecution witness, did not confirm that the defendants' actions were in any way related to extremism. From the interrogations of other witnesses given during the court hearings, it follows that the investigation falsified their preliminary testimony, and some openly exerted pressure.

The continuation of the debate is scheduled for 10.12.2019. There will be a defense.