The ECHR awarded compensation to the persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses from Dagestan

The European Court of Human Rights ordered the Russian authorities to pay compensation - 9,750 euros - to Jehovah's Witnesses from Dagestan. In 2022, a court in Makhachkala found Arsen Abdullaev, Marat Abdulgalimov, Anton Dergalev and Maria Karpova guilty of extremism and sentenced them to suspended sentences of six and six and a half years. They were kept in pre-trial detention for more than a year and released under house arrest.

The ECHR recognized a violation of freedom of religion. The criminal prosecution of all four is related to their participation in peaceful religious meetings. The investigation did not provide evidence of the validity of the accusation.

Arsen Abdullaev, Marat Abdulgalimov, Anton Dergalev and Maria Karpova repeatedly informed the investigation and the court that they never spoke out against the state, but only got together and read the Bible. They also spoke about pressure and persecution from the authorities.

In 2017, at the request of the Russian Orthodox Church, the religious Christian organization Jehovah's Witnesses was banned in the Russian Federation. Many of her followers were subjected to criminal prosecution and were sentenced to real and suspended sentences.

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