CRIMEA: Third jailing as second Jehovah's Witness jailed

[Isabella]

In the third jailing in Russian-occupied Crimea on "extremism" charges to punish the exercise of freedom of religion and belief, Jehovah's Witness Artyom Gerasimov was jailed for six years after a prosecutor appealed against an earlier fine. Jailed earlier were Muslim Renat Suleimanov for four years and Jehovah's Witness Sergei Filatov for six years. Like Suleimanov and Filatov, Gerasimov expects to be sent to a prison in Russia.

For the third time, a court in Russian-occupied Crimea has jailed an individual on "extremism" charges to punish the exercise of freedom of religion or belief. After an appeal by the prosecutor, on 4 June Crimea's Supreme Court changed the punishment imposed on 35-year-old Artyom Gerasimov from a fine of two years' average wages to a six-year jail term. He was arrested in the courtroom. He was the second Crimean Jehovah's Witness to be jailed.
 

The decision to make prisoner of conscience Gerasimov's punishment harsher without sending the case for a retrial is the first such instance in any Jehovah's Witness case in Crimea, or in Russia within its internationally recognised borders.

The first such jailing for exercising freedom of religion and belief was Muslim prisoner of conscience Renat Suleimanov. In January 2019 a Simferopol court jailed him for four years on "extremism"-related charges for meeting openly in mosques with three friends to discuss their faith.

Read more: http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2577

[Arauna]

The only reason the Russian orthodox is tolerated in neo-communism is because the church is hollow.  They do not teach the bible and resort to icons and candle lighting, singing etc.  The building of nationalism - worship of the state - is its main function.

Other religions are not tolerated.

[TrueTomHarley]

7 hours ago, Isabella said:

After an appeal by the prosecutor, on 4 June Crimea's Supreme Court changed the punishment imposed on 35-year-old Artyom Gerasimov from a fine of two years' average wages to a six-year jail term

I didn’t even know that it was within the power of an appeals court to do this—to harshen the sentence. I thought the only role of an appeals court was to determine if the preceding trial had been error-free and fair. Is the real message here that once a Witness is convicted, they had better not think they have the same right to appeal as anyone els.?

[Arauna]

4 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Is the real message here that once a Witness is convicted, they had better not think they have the same right to appeal as anyone els.?

Commies do not care for laws. They change them as they go along. They do not even take note of Human Rights decisions against them. They are a law to themselves because judges follow instructions from higher up.

[TrueTomHarley]

2 hours ago, Arauna said:

They change them as they go.

I also just noticed that it is the prosecutor’s appeal, not the defendants. That pretty much guts my theory, but it adds another quandary. I hadn’t realized that the prosecutor could appeal his own victorious verdict.

[Arauna]

42 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

could appeal his own victorious verdict.

I guess he felt the penalty meted out was not sufficient.