Lelikov's case in Krasnodar

Senior investigator of the investigation department of the FSB of the Russian Federation in the Krasnodar Territory, Captain of Justice Anton Poltoratsky initiates a criminal case against Alexei Lelikov. He considered holding peaceful worship services and biblical discussions to be a continuation of the activities of the banned organization.

The resolution states that "A.V. Lelikov, in pursuance of his criminal intent to organize and continue the activities of a banned religious organization, acting from extremist motives ... took active organizational actions, expressed in the convening and holding of meetings ... study of religious literature and information contained in other sources of information."

The judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar, Alexander Verkhoglyad, orders a search of Alexei Lelikov's home.

The Lelikov family is being searched. Law enforcement officers are not armed, do not use violent actions. Aleksey is taken for interrogation, after which he is released on his own recognizance.

Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Nikita Rudenko, senior investigator of the FSB of the Russian Federation for the Krasnodar Territory, is prosecuting Lelikov as a defendant under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Alexei Lelikov's wife and daughter are summoned for interrogation as witnesses in the FSB Directorate for the Krasnodar Territory. Answering investigator Rudenko's questions, the women use Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which allows them not to testify against themselves and their loved ones.

Lelikov's property (house and land) was seized.

The case goes to the Sovetsky District Court of the city of Krasnodar. It will be considered by judge Iryna Klyueva.

The hearings in the case of Aleksey Lelikov begin. To support the believer, 35 people come to court. A large hall is provided for the hearing.

The court grants Aleksey Lelikov's petition for the admission of a public defender.

Judge Iryna Klyuyeva adjourns the hearings until March 14, 2023, as the defender who joined the case requested time to familiarize himself with the case materials.

About 60 people come to the courthouse to support Alexei Lelikov. The prosecutor reads out the charges. The defendant does not agree with the accusation and says that it is not specified. The attitude to the accusation is attached to the case file.

A classified witness is being questioned in court. He recounts his preliminary testimony in detail. When asked by Lelikov how he determined that he was present at the meeting of the LRO, and not just believers, by video link, the witness replies that this is his subjective opinion. He also says that he received information about Jehovah's Witnesses on television.

Another witness recounts a time when he attended services of Jehovah's Witnesses: "Everything was voluntary, without coercion or sanction for non-attendance." With regard to Lelikov, he says that he has not been in close contact with him, but has never heard propaganda of superiority, hatred or enmity from him. He also says that he knows nothing about Lelikov's activities and life in the period from October 2020 to March 2021 (the alleged period of the charge).

A support group of 55 people is waiting outside the courthouse.

The next witness is invited for questioning by the prosecution. The witness explains that the legal entity of the religious organization was created exclusively for administrative needs - the lease of premises for worship. He says that he saw Lelikov at divine services, and not at meetings of a legal entity. The witness then gives a positive characterization of the defendant.

The appointed lawyer sees discrepancies with the record of the interrogation of the witness and submits a motion for disclosure. The prosecutor shall maintain and read out the protocol.

The lawyer draws attention to three points in the testimony, which reveals wording that the witness never pronounced. Moreover, the interrogated states that he twice refused to sign the interrogation protocol because of the wording distorted by the investigator. However, due to pressure and threats from the investigator, he had to sign the document. The judge says that if this was the case, then the witness should have filed a complaint against the investigator, but since he did not do this, it means that he considered that the testimony was recorded correctly.

About 50 people gather near the courthouse to support the defendant. The Lelikov family and 12 other people are allowed into the hall.

A witness is being questioned. In his questions, the prosecutor confuses the concepts of religion and legal entity, calling the word "organization" both. The witness explains that the word "organization" applies to both the denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses and a legal entity, but it is not the same thing. The witness tells the court what exactly was and what was not prohibited by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in 2017.

The defendant asks whether religious groups kept protocols or records of those present at religious meetings, to which the witness replies that this was not necessary, because these were not meetings of legal entities.

Next, the defendant asks the witness whether the 2017 ban on reading the Bible together, singing songs and praying was related. The witness refers to the explanations of the statesman and lawyer Tatyana Moskalkova and says: "All religious ceremonies, song performances, joint prayers, meetings - all this does not fall under the liquidation of the LRO or Krasnodar or some other, that is, the legal entity itself was liquidated. Therefore, it turns out that twenty people who were members of the LRO of Krasnodar have ceased their activities, and the rites conducted by Jehovah's Witnesses before 2017 and not banned by the court can be practiced by believers on the basis of Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The meeting is attended by about 30 listeners. Judge Irina Klyuyeva satisfies the defendant's request for a request for the full text of the Supreme Court decision of April 20, 2017 and the appeal decision for inclusion in the case file.

The prosecutor selectively reads out volumes 1 to 3 of the case file. Among other things, copies of the pension certificate, a certificate of disability of the 2nd group and a characteristic from the place of residence of the defendant.

The prosecutor continues to read out the materials of the case - search protocols, most of which do not relate to the defendant. A positive reference to Alexei Lelikov from the place of residence is also read out.

The court proceeds to listen to audio recordings of worship services received from a secret witness. The reproduction begins with a talk on the biblical theme of eternal life. The speech says that knowledge of God can change people's lives for the better and give hope.

An audio recording of a worship service and a discussion of the Christian attitude to hatred is listened to in court - that it is comparable to murder and that "it should not even be in the heart."

The prosecutor states that it is not necessary to listen to the recordings further, since there are already transcripts in the case file. The defense insists on the reproduction of audio files, since the entire accusation is based on these "material evidence of the crime". Aleksey Lelikov explains that only audio recordings can be heard intonation, and this can help the court form an opinion about his motives.

In the future, the recordings of the services are reproduced in fragments, but Judge Irina Klyuyeva allows the defendant to give brief explanations to them.

The court continues to listen to audio recordings of worship services. The defendant emphasizes what the believers learn at these meetings: "Everyone learned to love people - how to cooperate with love for all kinds of people so that peace and love reign in relationships."

The prosecution concludes the presentation of evidence.

The court begins an examination of the material evidence seized during the search: a letter of thanks, a biblical atlas, a book by religious scholar Sergei Ivanenko "About People Who Never Part with the Bible", a video file with biblical reports and the cartoon "Does Jehovah Answer Prayers?". Lelikov notes that these evidence does not confirm any of the charges against him.

The court continues to examine the materials of the case, including video recordings of Bible speeches, listed as files confirming the accusation.

The defendant says that the viewed Bible program, also available on the Internet, is intended for a wide audience and has nothing to do with the city of Krasnodar or the activities of the liquidated legal entity. He also notes that there are no calls for violence, incitement to hatred and propaganda of superiority over anyone, and that none of the quotations from the Bible shown on the screen coincide with the translation of the Bible included in the list of extremist literature. The program tells about how believers from different countries help each other during natural disasters and pandemics.

Interrogation of Alexei Lelikov's brother. He gives the defendant a positive characterization and says that, despite different religious views, they have a kind and calm relationship. He also says that the defendant did not call any of his relatives to do anything illegal, on the contrary, encouraged them to obey the authorities and strengthen family ties.

The public defender discusses the difference between the meetings of the LRO and the services of believers.

Judge Iryna Klyuyeva allows the defense to make public the comments on the examination of audio recordings of worship services — contradictions, errors and inconsistencies. The court attaches these comments to the case file.

The court attaches to the case file documents on the state of health of the defendant, as well as two characteristics of his personality.

The court session lasts more than 6 hours without a lunch break.

Religious scholar Pavel Boyko is being interrogated. In his speech, he focuses on issues that are not the subject of this criminal case - he discusses whether Jehovah's Witnesses are real Christians, commenting on their doctrine.

The lawyer and the defendant file a motion to disqualify the expert because of prejudice against the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and incompetence. The judge refuses.

The interrogation of expert religious scholar Pavel Boyko, head of the Department of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at Kuban State University, who performed an examination of audio recordings of Jehovah's Witnesses' services, continues. In response to one of the lawyer's questions, the expert reads out a voluminous fragment of the text of the examination that is not related to the question asked. After that, the lawyer again filed a motion to challenge the expert, but the judge refused.

Of the 22 people who came to the courthouse, 6 were allowed into the courtroom.

The interrogation of religious expert Pavel Boyko continues. He continues to express his negative attitude towards Jehovah's Witnesses. In the expert opinion, Boyko points out that the word "peace" carries an extremist connotation. Defendant Lelikov asks if the expert knows that this word has many meanings. Boyko agrees, but says that since he is not a linguist, he cannot explain the meaning of the word in the context of the Bible.

Judge Iryna Klyueva denies the defense's motion to summon a linguistic expert, Professor Elena Ryadchikova for questioning.

Investigator Nikita Rudenko is interrogated. He answers all questions very quietly. Asking everyone involved in the process to give louder answers leads nowhere.

Of the 18 people who came to the courthouse, 7 were allowed to attend the hearing.

The judge rejected two motions of the defense: to exclude from the evidence the discs with audio recordings of the services, and to exclude from the evidence the protocols of the examination of the discs with audio recordings of the services.

The court takes additional time to make a decision on the next petition — on the appointment of a computer and technical examination of the properties of discs with audio recordings of worship services.

Before making a decision on the request of the defense for the appointment of a computer and technical examination, the judge decides to summon senior FSB operative Stanislav Bochin for questioning. Under his control, CDs were recorded, the properties of which were later found to contain incorrect dates.

It is known that since 2020, Bochin has been actively involved in the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Krasnodar Territory and testifies against them in court. The defendant himself and the defense consider him to be an interested person and, in fact, the initiator of this criminal case. They insist on conducting an objective examination of CDs by technical means.

24 people come to the court building to support Aleksey Lelikov, 7 of whom are allowed into the courtroom.