Jehovah’s Witnesses

For Immediate Release
August 6, 2010
(Russian)

Russia prosecutes 85-year-old for his faith

ROSTOV, Russia—Aleksey Fedorin was charged and tried on July 28, 2010, for “mass distribution of extremist materials,” despite his being 85 years old and legally classified as disabled. In a court in Tselina, Judge Viktoria Samokhina ruled to fine him 1,000 rubles (US $35).

Police officer S. Chernigovskiy collected all the publications that Mr. Fedorin shared with his neighbors in the village of Sredniy Yegorlyk over the years. Officer Chernigovskiy had previously expressed public hostility toward Jehovah’s Witnesses and now filed a report claiming that Mr. Fedorin distributed publications that had already been placed on the federal list of extremist materials.

Prosecutor A. Lysenin summoned Mr. Fedorin to the police department and questioned him for eight hours despite Mr. Fedorin’s age and feeble condition. The prosecutor did not inform Mr. Fedorin of the charges he would be facing. In fact, the prosecutor’s report claims that Mr. Fedorin distributed literature between June 15 and 18, 2010. But Fedorin was actually ill during that time and was not able to participate in any public religious activities.

In the courtroom, before hearing the case the judge dismissed all those who came in support of Mr. Fedorin. The judge also failed to take into consideration Mr. Fedorin’s testimony in court by which he refuted the claim that he distributed the publications in the year of 2010 (after they were placed on the federal list). Mr. Fedorin is not a stranger to what he recognizes as trumped-up charges. During the Soviet era, he spent five years of his life in prison for his faith.

Contacts:
In Russia: Grigory Martynov, tel. +7 812 702 2691
In USA: J. R. Brown, tel. +1 718 560  5600