Photo: Igor Ivashin

Photo: Igor Ivashin

Photo: Igor Ivashin

Criminal trial

A court in Yakutia returned the criminal case against Igor Ivashin to the prosecutor

Sakha (Yakutia)

On November 20, 2019, the Lensky District Court of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), chaired by Judge Sergei Osmushin, returned to the prosecutor's office the case initiated on June 29, 2018 against a local believer. The preventive measure chosen against him in the form of a recognizance not to leave the place remains in force.

Igor Ivashin became a defendant in a criminal case after police raids conducted in Lensk in the summer of 2018. Investigative actions related to him have been carried out since February 2018, when the authorities began audio and video surveillance at his place of residence and wiretapping of his phone.

Judge Sergei Osmushin considered the accusation against Igor Ivashin not specified. According to him, in the case file the investigator did not indicate what exactly the unlawful actions of the believer were. It is also unclear how the "religious chants" and "sermons" are related to the continuation of the activities of the liquidated religious organization, which was never registered in Lensk. The court also noted that it is "not possible to understand" what the expert opinions presented in the criminal case testify to.

Case of Ivashin in Lensk

Case History
In June 2018, 22 Jehovah’s Witnesses were taken to police stations in Lensk, Yakutia, during mass searches. Operational-search activities were carried out by employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), including investigators Andrey Romanenko and Andrey Myreev. During the interrogations, it turned out that civilians had been under surveillance for more than six months. During this time, the telephone conversations of Igor Ivashin, one of the detainees, were tapped. In addition, audio and video surveillance were conducted in his apartment. As a result, a criminal case was initiated under the article “organization of the activities of an extremist organization”. The prosecutor requested that Igor Ivashin be sentenced to 7 years in prison, but on April 1, 2020, the judge of the Lensky District Court of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Zhanna Schmidt, sentenced him to 6 years probation for believing in Jehovah God. The Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Ivashin
Igor

Criminal case

Region:
Sakha (Yakutia)
Locality:
Lensk
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, together with others he conducted religious services, which is interpreted as organising the activity of an extremist organisation (with reference to the decision of the Russian Supreme Court on the liquidation of all 396 registered organisations of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11802980009000034
Initiated:
June 29, 2018
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-144/2019
Case History
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