Photo: Denis Timoshin, Galiya Olkhova, Vladimir Kulyasov, Tatyana Alushkina, Vladimir Alushkin, Andrey Magliv

Photo: Denis Timoshin, Galiya Olkhova, Vladimir Kulyasov, Tatyana Alushkina, Vladimir Alushkin, Andrey Magliv

Photo: Denis Timoshin, Galiya Olkhova, Vladimir Kulyasov, Tatyana Alushkina, Vladimir Alushkin, Andrey Magliv

Legal Victories

In the City of Penza, Court of Appeal Overturns Conviction of Six Jehovah's Witnesses. Alushkin Must Leave Jail in the Near Future

Penza Region

On March 25, 2020, the Penza Regional Court quashed the verdict for believers Vladimir and Tatyana Alushkin, Vladimir Kulyasov, Andrey Magliv, Galiya Olkhova, and Denis Timoshin and returned the case for a new trial. Vladimir Alushkin should exit the pre-trial detention center as soon as the hard copy of the appeal ruling is received there.

"The verdict of the Leninsky District Court of Penza of December 13, 2019 [...] cancel, transfer the criminal case for a new trial to the same court by a different composition of the court, change the measure of restraint to Alushkin - detention - to recognizance not to leave and proper behavior, to release him from custody. The measure of restraint for Magliv, Kulyasov, Timoshin, Alushkina and Olkhova should be left the same - a written undertaking not to leave and proper behavior, "the presiding judge read out the decision of the judicial board.

Vladimir Alushkin, sentenced to 6 years in prison, is currently imprisoned in pre-trial detention center No. 2 in the Mordovian city of Ruzaevka. Until the appellate ruling reaches the place of detention, the believer will remain in custody.

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

Alushkin
Vladimir
Alushkina
Tatyana
Kulyasov
Vladimir
Magliv
Andrey
Olkhova
Galiya
Timoshin
Denis

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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