Samara Regional Court

Samara Regional Court

Samara Regional Court

Unjust Verdicts

Court of Appeal in Samara Upheld the Guilty Verdict Against Aleksandr Dolganov — 3 Years in a Penal Colony for his Faith in Jehovah God

Samara Region

On September 27, 2024, the panel of judges of the Samara Regional Court agreed with the decision of the first instance in the case of Aleksandr Dolganov. Although the term of punishment for the believer, 35, remained the same, the court of appeal counted the time under house arrest toward the punishment at the rate of 1 day of house arrest for 1 day in a penal colony. According to this decision, Dolganov should complete his sentence a month and a half earlier.

Earlier, the Avtozavodskiy District Court of the city of Tolyatti considered it a crime that Dolganov had held meetings for worship of Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the believer, this contradicts the explanations of the Plenum of the RF Supreme Court, so he appealed the verdict. Addressing the panel of judges, Dolganov said: "Bible principles taught me to be a kind, caring and patient person. I have a strong marriage; I took care of my beloved wife. I was officially working for the benefit of society, helped neighbors regardless of their faith... I was sentenced to 3 years in a penal colony for correction. What do I need to correct?"

The believer's lawyer emphasized: "During the consideration of the case by the court of first instance, it was reliably established that there was no extremism in the actions of the convicted person. This was confirmed by both expert conclusions and the testimonies of witnesses, and can be clearly seen from the video recordings of the meetings for worship examined by the court of first instance." Nevertheless, Anna Tokareva, judge of the court of first instance, drew the following conclusion: "The absence of statements calling for or justifying unlawful actions in the expert conclusions... does not question the presence of actions stated in Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC by the defendant."

In the Samara Region, five other Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to long prison terms on similar charges for their faith.

The Case of Dolganov in Tolyatti

Case History
In May 2023, in Tolyatti, officers of the Investigative Committee and the FSB broke into the homes of four families of believers to conduct searches. A criminal case was initiated against Aleksandr Dolganov for his faith. After interrogation, he was placed under house arrest for 85 days, and then under a ban on certain actions. In July 2023, the case went to court. The charge was based on the testimony of two witnesses who collaborated with the investigation. One of them, who secretly filmed the meetings for worship, admitted that she did not know the defendant personally, but had a negative attitude towards Jehovah’s Witnesses. Also at the trial, it turned out that the specialists who conducted the psychological and religious expert studies did not have the necessary qualifications. In April 2024, the court sentenced Aleksandr to 3 years imprisonment. In the courtroom, he was taken into custody and placed in a detention center. In September, the court of appeal upheld the court’s decision.
Timeline

Persons in case

Dolganov
Aleksandr

Criminal case

Region:
Samara Region
Locality:
Tolyatti
Court case number:
12302360032000240
Initiated:
May 15, 2023
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Tsentralniy Interdistrict Investigative Department for the City of Tolyatti of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Samara Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-72/2024 (1-978/2023)
Court of First Instance:
Avtozavodskiy District Court of the City of Tolyatti
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Anna Tokareva
Case History
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