31 May 2024, 21:55
Three Kalmyk Jehovah's Witnesses* claim in court freedom of religion
On May 29, at a court session, Kishta Tutinova, Tsagan Khalgaeva and Ekaterina Menkova rejected charges of extremist activities and stated that the actions they were accused of were their exercise of the constitutional right to profess any religion.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in March 2023, an Elista court sent Jehovah's Witness* Kishta Tutinova under house arrest on charges of organizing extremist activities. Tsagan Khalgaeva and Ekaterina Menkova were initially witnesses in the case, but in December 2023, they were accused of involvement in the activities of an extremist organization. Tutinova faces up to ten years in jail; Khalgaeva and Menkova – up to six years. However, none of those questioned in court has confirmed that Tutinova, Khalgaeva and Menkova made extremist statements.
After the decision of the Russian Supreme Court (SC) to liquidate their religious organizations, the case of Tutinova, Khalgaeva and Menkova became the first criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses* initiated in Kalmykia. Investigators accuse the Jehovah's Witnesses* of attempting to continue the activities of the organization banned by the court, while the believers themselves consider their actions to be the exercise of the constitutional right to practice religion.
"In their testimonies, the defendants once again drew attention to the fact that neither the decision of the Russian SC, nor that of the Kalmyk SC has prohibited practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses*. No one forbade believing in God, reading the Bible, or discussing it with others. Namely, the prosecution is mistakenly considering these actions to be a continuation of the activities of the liquidated local religious organization," Evgenia Smelova, Kishta Tutinova's advocate, has stated.
The advocate has emphasized that none of the defendants had extremist motives of religious hatred or enmity. "I believe they are accused solely for their religious views, which had exclusively peaceful expression," Ms Smelova has concluded.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 30, 2024 at 00:10 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Source: СK correspondent
