Photo: Vladimir and Tatyana Alushkin

Photo: Vladimir and Tatyana Alushkin

Photo: Vladimir and Tatyana Alushkin

Legal Victories

With Sentence Voided in Penza Ruling, Vladimir Alushkin Left the Pre-trial Detention Center in Mordovia and Rejoined His Wife and Friends

Penza Region

On March 30, 2020, Vladimir Alushkin, sentenced to six years in a colony for believing in Jehovah, left the pre-trial detention center after the sentence was canceled. In total, the believer spent almost nine months in prison -- 293 days. It was a touching scene as he rejoined his wife and friends on the way home.

Vladimir and his wife Tatyana Alushkina, as well as fellow believers Andrey Magliv, Vladimir Kulyasov, Denis Timoshin and Galiya Olkhova were found guilty of extremism on December 13, 2019. The essence of "extremism" boiled down to the fact that believers, following the example of first-century Christians, gathered together to discuss the Bible, chants and prayers to Jehovah God.

The most severe sentence - imprisonment in a colony - was received by Vladimir. The rest were given suspended sentences by the court. On March 25, the Penza Regional Court overturned this verdict, reversing the accusatory trend in the consideration of Jehovah's Witnesses cases.

"The cancellation of the verdict is essentially a precedent, since it proved the absurdity of accusing Jehovah's Witnesses of 'extremism', 'crimes against the state and public safety' - these are the wording that is full of criminal cases initiated against believers without evidence," said Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Five days after the cancellation of the verdict, Vladimir Alushkin was released from the pre-trial detention center, located in the Mordovian city of Ruzaevka. Upon Vladimir's return, there was a touching meeting with his wife and friends.

Case of Alushkin and Others in Penza

Case History
In July 2018, searches were carried out in Penza and criminal cases were initiated against 6 local Jehovah’s Witnesses. It turned out that since the fall of 2017, the believers had been under covert surveillance. Vladimir Alushkin spent six months in a pre-trial detention center. The UN Working Group officially recognized his arrest as arbitrary. In the summer of 2019, the case was submitted to the Leninsky District Court of Penza. During the hearings, it turned out that the protocols of the witnesses’ interrogations were partially falsified by the investigation, and one of the witnesses told the court that she had testified under pressure. In December 2019, Judge Roman Tanchenko sentenced Vladimir Alushkin to 6 years in prison, and Tatyana Alushkina, Galia Olkhova, Vladimir Kulyasov, Andrey Magliv and Denis Timoshin to 2 years suspended. In September 2020, the Penza Regional Court commuted the sentence of Vladimir Alushkin, replacing 6 years in prison with 4 years probation. For the rest, the court upheld the sentence - 2 years suspended. On December 9, 2021, the First Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction upheld the verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Penza Region
Locality:
Penza
Suspected of:
according to the investigation he participated in religious services, which is interpreted as participating in 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:
11802560015000075
Initiated:
July 11, 2018
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Bessonovskiy Inter-district Investigative Department of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Penza Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-110/2020 (1-167/2019)
Court:
Ленинский районный суд г. Пензы
Case History
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