Criminal Investigation and Trial

The Oryol District Court extended the arrest of a believing Danish citizen for another three months

Oryol Region

On November 20, 2017, a judge of the Sovetsky District Court of Oryol decided to keep the law-abiding Jehovah's Witness behind bars, extending his detention until February 23, 2018.

A local resident, Dennis Christensen, who has Danish citizenship and is married to an Orlov woman, was arrested on May 25, 2017 during a Bible study, which he attended with his wife Irina. The FSB officers investigating the case baselessly stated that Christensen "continued" the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Oryol, which was liquidated by a court decision. Meanwhile, the believer was never a member of this organization, as the court could easily verify by simply looking at the documents received from the local department of justice. In the six months since Christensen's arrest, FSB investigators have interviewed dozens of residents of the Oryol region and other regions, trying to gather evidence of any illegal activity of the believer.

During the 3-hour hearing, Judge Andrei Tretyakov did not satisfy the defense's motions to replace the measure of restraint with a milder one, such as house arrest. The court also did not take into account the official guarantees of the Royal Embassy of Denmark, which, on humanitarian grounds, gave assurances that it would not provide Christensen with a new passport to replace the one seized by the investigators and would not assist him in leaving the Russian Federation.

The fact that the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Oryol was liquidated by the court, and its activities were banned, does not negate the right of "everyone" (that is, not only a citizen of Russia) to freedom of religion, enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to the Basic Law of the country, everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right to profess, individually or in community with others, any religion, freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them. The main occupation of Dennis Christensen in Orel was the installation of wooden structures, he was in Orel for personal reasons, and not at the invitation of any organization.

Dennis Christensen is completely innocent.

Case of Christensen in Oryol

Case History
Dennis Christensen is the first Jehovah’s Witness in modern Russia to be imprisoned only because of his faith. He was arrested in May 2017. The FSB accused the believer of organizing the activities of a banned organization on the basis of the testimony of a secret witness, theologian Oleg Kurdyumov from a local university, who kept covert audio and video recordings of conversations with Christensen about faith. There are no extremist statements or victims in the case. In 2019, the court sentenced Christensen to 6 years in prison. The believer was serving time in the Lgov colony. He repeatedly asked for the replacement of part of the unserved term with a fine. For the first time, the court granted the request, but the prosecutor’s office appealed this decision, and the prison administration threw the believer into a punishment cell on trumped-up charges. Christensen developed illnesses that prevented him from working in prison. On May 24, 2022, the believer was released after serving his sentence and was immediately deported to his homeland, Denmark.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Oryol Region
Locality:
Oryol
Suspected of:
according to the investigation, together with the others he conducted religious services, which is interpreted as “organising the activity of an extremist organisation” (with reference to the court’s decision on the liquidation of the local organisation of Jehovah’s Witnesses)
Court case number:
11707540001500164
Initiated:
May 23, 2017
Current case stage:
The verdict entered into force
Investigating:
UFSB of Russia in the Oryol region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-37/1
[i18n] Рассмотрено судом первой инстанции:
Железнодорожный районный суд г. Орла
Judge:
Алексей Николаевич Руднев
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Орловский областной суд
[i18n] Суд апелляционной инстанции:
Льговский райсуд Курской области
Case History