Yelena and Sergey Chechulin
Reconsideration — Court of Cassation Overturns Verdict Against Chechulin Couple from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for Their Faith
Kamchatka TerritoryOn October 30, 2024, the Ninth Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction took the side of the prosecutor regarding the verdict against Sergey and Yelena Chechulin and sent the case to the court of first instance for a new trial.
Yevgeniy Paul, Deputy Prosecutor of the Kamchatka Territory, considered that the court inappropriately mitigated the charge, reclassifying it from organizing the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(1) of the RF CrC) to participating in it (Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC).
The Chechulins do not agree with the guilty verdict and maintain their innocence. Sergey, referring to the article of the RF Constitution on freedom of conscience, stated: "In fact, my wife and I were found guilty of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses."