Criminal Investigation and Trial

The Oryol Regional Court postponed the hearing in the case of Dennis Christensen

Oryol Region

On June 7, the Oryol Regional Court was to consider the appeal of one of Jehovah's Witnesses, a Danish citizen, Dennis Christensen, against the decision on 2-month detention. This measure of restraint was chosen for him by the Sovetsky District Court of Orel on May 26, 2017.

The regional court postponed the hearing due to the fact that it was not possible to find an interpreter from Danish for the accused. The date of the new meeting has not yet been announced.

On June 10, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported that the Oryol Regional Court had allegedly upheld the lower court's decision to detain Christensen. This information is not true, since the hearing did not take place.

Dennis Christensen was arrested on May 25, 2017, while studying the Bible together with fellow believers. This meek, peaceful man faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of "organizing the activities of an extremist organization."

Case of Christensen in Oryol

Case History
Dennis Christensen is the first Jehovah’s Witness in modern Russia to be imprisoned only because of his faith. He was arrested in May 2017. The FSB accused the believer of organizing the activities of a banned organization on the basis of the testimony of a secret witness, theologian Oleg Kurdyumov from a local university, who kept covert audio and video recordings of conversations with Christensen about faith. There are no extremist statements or victims in the case. In 2019, the court sentenced Christensen to 6 years in prison. The believer was serving time in the Lgov colony. He repeatedly asked for the replacement of part of the unserved term with a fine. For the first time, the court granted the request, but the prosecutor’s office appealed this decision, and the prison administration threw the believer into a punishment cell on trumped-up charges. Christensen developed illnesses that prevented him from working in prison. On May 24, 2022, the believer was released after serving his sentence and was immediately deported to his homeland, Denmark.
Timeline

Persons in case

Christensen
Dennis

Criminal case

Region:
Oryol Region
Locality:
Oryol
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, together with the others he conducted religious services, which is interpreted as “organising the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the court’s decision on the liquidation of the local organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11707540001500164
Initiated:
May 23, 2017
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of Russia for the Oryol Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-37/1
Considered by the Court of First Instance:
Zheleznodorozhniy District Court of the City of Oryol
Judge:
Aleksey Rudnev
Court of Appeal:
Орловский областной суд
Court of Appeal:
Льговский райсуд Курской области
Case History
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