Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction. Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai
On the Complaint of the Prosecutor, the Cassation Returned the Case of Dmitriy Barmakin to the Court of Appeal
Primorye TerritoryOn December 18, 2023, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction in Vladivostok overturned the ruling of the Primorye Territory Court, which declared the earlier sentence imposed on Dmitriy Barmakin—8 years in prison—illegal. The case was sent for a new appeal hearing in a different composition of the court.
Dmitriy Barmakin, 49, a Jehovah's Witness and programmer by profession, has been persecuted for his faith for more than five years. He has already received two verdicts by the court of first instance (acquittal and conviction), as well as two decisions of the courts of appeal (cancellation of acquittal and cancellation of conviction).
In September 2023, Andrey Tregubov, Deputy Prosecutor of the Primorye Territory, filed a cassation appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, which decided to send Barmakin's case for a third review. Tregubov also asked the court of cassation to place the believer in custody, but this was denied, Dmitriy Barmakin remained under a written undertaking not to leave.