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.

"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.