The Cassation Court Returned to the Appeal Stage the Case of Yuriy Savelyev, Who Is Serving a Sentence in a Colony for His Faith in Jehovah God

On November 24, 2021, the Eighth General Jurisdiction Court of Cassation canceled the appeal ruling against 67-year-old Yuriy Savelyev and returned the case to the stage of appeal consideration in a different composition of the court. The believer's defense hopes for his acquittal.

Back in December 2020, the Leninskiy District Court of Novosibirsk sentenced Yuriy Savelyev to 6 years in prison. The believer appealed against the verdict in the Novosibirsk Regional Court. The appeal upheld the the term of imprisonment, but changed the additional punishment, which imposed restrictions on Savelyev's activities after serving the term. In response, the deputy prosecutor of the Novosibirsk region, M.I. Askerov, filed a cassation appeal, demanding that Savelyev be deprived of the "right to engage in activities related to leadership and participation in public and religious organizations." This submission was satisfied by the cassation panel of judges consisting of E.V. Starchikova, E.V. Volkova and O.V. Plastinina.

Since the sentence to Savelyev is now considered not to have entered into force, Yuriy cannot apply for a mitigation of punishment or ask for parole. The believer has been behind bars for over 3 years.

The appellate instance in the new composition may issue an acquittal in the Savelyev case in connection with the new version of the ruling of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of June 28, 2011, which states that joint services in themselves do not constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which the security forces use to organize the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. These amendments have already been applied in the criminal case of Dmitriy Barmakin from the Primorsky Territory, and he was fully acquitted.