Smelov Alexey with his wife Irina at the courthouse. September 27, 2022

Smelov Alexey with his wife Irina at the courthouse. September 27, 2022

Smelov Alexey with his wife Irina at the courthouse. September 27, 2022

Unjust Verdicts

In Karelia, the appeal upheld the verdict of Alexei Smelov. The believer will pay a fine for exercising his constitutional right

Karelia

On September 27, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Karelia approved the verdict of a lower court to Aleksey Smelov — he must pay a fine of 400,000 rubles for believing in Jehovah God. The believer considers it unjust and insists on his complete innocence. He has the right to file a cassation appeal.

Aleksey Smelov faced criminal prosecution in July 2019, when a wave of house raids of Jehovah's Witnesses swept through the region of Karelia. The case against his fellow believers from Petrozavodsk is now at the trial stage.

The search, seizure of personal belongings, interrogation — all this was a shock to the Smelov family. The accusation of the head of the family of extremism brought financial difficulties. Aleksey said: “Since I was included in the list of extremists, my bank card was blocked. For five months, we did not receive a salary in full, but only a small part, which was enough to pay for utilities.”

The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia caused a wide resonance. In June 2022, the ECHR recognized the accusations of representatives of this religion of extremism as groundless. The Washington Post commented on the European Court ruling: “The European court’s ruling will probably have only symbolic impact; Russia has been ejected from the council [of Europe] … But the ruling is a testament to what happens when innocent people are stripped of their rights and dignity by a police state.”

Case of Smelov in Kondopoga

Case History
In July 2019, the deputy head of the FSB Directorate for the Republic of Karelia, M. Golubenko, opened a criminal case for organizing the activities of an extremist organization against Alexei Smelov, a father of three children. The basis for this was the report of FSB Lieutenant Usoltsev, who portrayed interest in the Bible and kept hidden audio recordings of divine services and conversations with believers. The house of Smelov and 16 other families of civilians in Kondopoga and Petrozavodsk were searched. Aleksey was interrogated twice, after which they took a written undertaking not to leave the place. In April 2021, Smelov’s case went to court. It was considered by Judge Alexander Ivanov. Although the prosecution did not provide facts of extremist calls or actions, the prosecutor requested a fine of 500 thousand rubles for him. After the debate, the court decided to continue the proceedings. As a result, Alexey Smely was fined 400,000 rubles in April 2022. The appellate court upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Smelov
Aleksey

Criminal case

Region:
Karelia
Locality:
Kondopoga
Suspected of:
According to the investigation in the territory of Kondopoga city in the Republic of Karelia he organized the activities of the illicit religious organization of “Administrative Centre of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” local unit including convening meetings, organizing propaganda activities, and recruiting new members
Court case number:
11907860001000023
Initiated:
July 31, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
FSB Directorate for the Republic of Karelia
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-2/2022 (1-72/2021)
Court:
Kondopoga City Courtof the Republic of Karelia
Judge:
Aleksandr Ivanov
Case History
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