Regional Court Building, Saratov (December 2019)
On December 12, an appeals court in Saratov will decide whether to imprison six local Jehovah's Witnesses for their faith
Saratov RegionTomorrow, December 12, at 11:00 a.m., the Saratov Regional Court will consider an appeal against the verdict against six local residents sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for their faith. Court address: Saratov, st. Michurin, 85.
On September 19, 2019, the Leninsky District Court of Saratov sentenced Konstantin Bazhenov and Aleksey Budenchuk to 3 years and 6 months in prison, Felix Makhammadiev to 3 years, Roman Gridasov, Gennady German and Aleksey Miretsky to 2 years. Such a harsh sentence is based only on their religion as Jehovah's Witnesses.
Believers hope that the appellate court will overturn the absurd verdict for faith against innocent people. All convicts are peaceful, law-abiding citizens, not previously convicted, all have families. At the moment, they are in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Saratov region.
Update. About 150 people came to the hearing, but only 40 were allowed into the hall. It turned out that the lawyer of one of the accused did not appear, so a new one was appointed to him. The court postponed the hearing until December 20 so that the new lawyer could familiarize herself with the case materials and the complaint.