The investigation opened a criminal case against Sergey Petrenko under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the basis of the case materials against another believer, Aleksandr Kalistratov.
Sergey Petrenko is charged, he is immediately acquainted with the materials of the case and it goes to the Maiminsky District Court of the Altai Republic. The case materials consist of 7 volumes. Volumes 2-6 are identical to the volumes of the Kalistratov case (they are copies).
The investigator takes Sergey Petrenko's recognizance not to leave.
At the preliminary hearing, Judge Dmitry Gorbachev attaches motions to refuse a lawyer, to return the case to the prosecutor and to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The court does not allow the accused to refuse a lawyer, and also refuses to return the case to the prosecutor and recognize some of the evidence of the prosecution as inadmissible.
State prosecutor Paronov reads out the indictment. Sergey Petrenko expresses disagreement and does not admit his guilt. Judge Dmitry Gorbachev does not allow Petrenko to announce his attitude to the charges.
The prosecutor summons five witnesses for questioning, two of whom do not confirm their written statements given during the preliminary investigation.
In connection with the resignation of Judge Dmitry Gorbachev, the case is transferred to Artur Shatin for reconsideration.
8 prosecution witnesses are interrogated, and their written testimony is read out from the case file. One of them says he does not know the defendant.
About 20 people come to the courthouse, six are allowed into the courtroom.
The prosecutor reads out the written evidence in the criminal case, reading out only the titles of the documents.
In connection with the change of employment of Judge Artur Shatin, the case is transferred to Elena Usoltseva for reconsideration.
Three prosecution witnesses are being questioned. One woman does not corroborate the testimony given during the investigation. She says she didn't sign them because they didn't match her words.
Another witness states that his affidavit contains falsifications: the investigator added names that were not mentioned during the interrogation.
Another prosecution witness notes that communication with Jehovah's Witnesses helped her elderly relative cope with the pain of loss due to the death of her husband.
Sergey Petrenko gives his last word in court.
