An Appeal in the Amur Region Upheld the Verdict on Believer Konstantin Moiseenko — 6 Years Probation for Convictions

On September 9, 2021, the Amur Regional Court upheld the verdict of the first instance court. Jehovah's Witness Konstantin Moiseyenko was sentenced to 6 years of conditional sentence with a following probation period of 4 years and an additional restriction of liberty for 1 year.

The verdict entered into force. The believer still insists on his innocence. He has the right to appeal against the verdict in cassation procedure, as well as in international instances.

On July 14, 2021, the judge of the Zeyskiy District Court of the Amur Region, Alexandr Kozlov, found 45-year-old Konstantin Moiseyenko guilty of "organizing the activities of a banned organization."

The accusation was based on the data provided by an embedded FSB agent: a woman, equipped with special equipment, took notes of liturgical meetings. In March 2019, searches were conducted in Zeya in at least five homes of Jehovah's Witnesses, including the Moiseyenko family. Laptops, telephones and personal records were confiscated from believers. Before the start of the trial, the believer spent about one and a half years under recognizance not to leave.

Konstantin Moiseyenko is a systems engineer by profession, he is married. The court was presented with positive characteristics of the believer from relatives and neighbors, confirming his calm and peaceful disposition.

Turning to the court of appeal, the believer drew attention to the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are not a threat to society and the state. They live by biblical standards that "teach people to be honest and respect authority." Konstantin Moiseyenko said: "Instead of constructively cooperating with Jehovah's Witnesses, who are of great benefit to society, the prosecution violates my rights, thereby harming not only me, but the entire society."

Moiseyenko, being a believer, just continued to adhere to his religious beliefs and discuss the Bible with his fellow believers. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia are not prohibited from practicing their religion. Prosecution witness senior FSB operative Nikolay Korendov, speaking in court, said: "The gatherings of Jehovah's Witnesses are chants and Bible readings." He added that he had never heard from the defendant calls for the overthrow of state power, any violence or aggression against representatives of other religions or nationalities. He also confirmed that according to Russian law, the Bible, its content and quotations taken from this book cannot be considered extremist. Nevertheless, the court considered the peaceful believer to be dangerous to society.

Konstantin Moiseyenko is already the second believer in Zeya to be convicted by the court. In 2021, the court sentenced 78-year-old Vasiliy Reznichenko to two years' suspended imprisonment. In September 2021, the Amur Regional Court upheld the harshest sentence handed down to Jehovah's Witness since 2017: 8 years in a general regime colony for 45-year-old Alexey Berchuk. Another criminal case initiated against Yevgeniy Bitusov and Leonid Druzhinin is under preliminary investigation.

Human rights activists in Russia and around the world condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in contemporary Russia. Vladimir Ryakhovskiy, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, says: “In our country, the right to religion, including joint one, is enshrined in the Constitution. The doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses in our country was not prohibited. It turns out that if the followers of some creed gather at home or online, then we are necessarily talking about participation in the activities of a banned organization? No".

In May 2021, the association of former prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp (Lagergemeinschaft Dachau), in connection with the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses, sent an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which concluded: “We urge you to grant every citizen of Russia the constitutional right to freely profess religion. Please put an end to this injustice! "