Jehovah's Witnesses in Kaliningrad

[The Librarian]

The first Jehovah's Witnesses to be prosecuted under Article 5.26 appeared in court in Kaliningrad in October and November. S. Kozin, S. Furman, and I. Parmon, who were charged under Part 4, and Ts. Kus, a foreign citizen who was charged under Part 5, were involved in two separate incidents in August. All were acquitted.

Police detained Kus and Parmon on 11 August for having a conversation about the Bible with a man in the entrance to a block of flats, Jehovah's Witness spokesperson Ivan Belenko told Forum 18 on 30 November. The pair "shared the observation that, although a very ancient book, the Bible gives advice which is applicable to modern life". When the man asked what they were talking about, they explained that "they wanted to encourage him to read the Bible".

The same man later approached them accompanied by a police major, who said the man had complained that they were "promoting religious literature to him". More officers were called to take the Jehovah's Witnesses to the police station. There, Kus and Parmon gave a written statement explaining that they "were not engaged in missionary activity on behalf of any organisation", had not handed out any religious literature, and had talked about their beliefs as was their constitutional right.

Kus and Parmon were acquitted because Central District Court and Central District Magistrate's Court No. 4 noted that the Religion Law "does not prohibit the dissemination of personal religious experience or dialogue on religious topics", Belenko explained. "The actions of believers who simply wanted to exercise their right to disseminate their religious views do not show the attributes of ‘missionary activity' as established by law, and therefore cannot be regarded as missionary."

This case illustrates how even the briefest interaction and most casual, conversational sharing of beliefs may be open to misconstruction or overreaction from other people, who may decide to notify law enforcement. The judges' interpretation of the incident, however, suggests that individuals should be free to discuss their faith publicly as they wish.

Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia no longer engage in the previously widespread practice of standing in public places (usually in pairs) with trolleys of religious literature, Belenko also noted. He explained to Forum 18 on 16 December that this is because the community now has little literature to offer (millions of Bibles have been impounded by Russian customs, for instance – see F18News 14 December 2015 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2133). Belenko also pointed to a March 2016 amendment to the Demonstrations Law which introduced a requirement to notify the authorities of a one-person picket if it made use of "prefabricated collapsible structures" (notification is usually not necessary for one-person pickets).

Jehovah's Witnesses have frequently been charged with "picketing" without notification when standing in the street in pairs. Under the March 2016 amendment they could also be prosecuted for doing so alone.

http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2242