The Court Ordered to Free Dennis Christensen, one of Jehovah's Witness From Denmark. For His Faith, He Stayed in Prison for 1128 Days

On June 23, 2020, at 19:50 Lgov district court, considering Dennis Christensen's petition for mitigation of his sentence, replaced his unexpired part of the prison term with a fine of 400,000 rubles. A Jehovah's Witness convicted of faith will be released after the court ruling enters into force.

The hearing was attended by Danish diplomats. No one else, including Dennis' wife Irina, was allowed into the building. Christensen himself attended the hearing via video.

Dennis Christensen was arrested on 25 May 2017 and sentenced to six years in prison in February 2019. The court considered it extremist that the believer continued to gather with his fellow believers for religious meetings and welcomed them before the religious service. However, there were no victims of Christensen's "crimes". To date, the believer has actually been behind bars for about 3 years and 1 month. However, taking into account the fact that according to the law, one day in the pre-trial detention facility equals 1.5 days in the general regime colony, Christensen has served more than 4 years of the term appointed by the court.

"From the moment of his arrest Christensen has behaved and behaved respectfully and correctly towards the employees of the investigation and court, the pre-trial detention facility and the employees of correctional colony № 3. He independently organized free English language training for prisoners, maintains friendly relations with other convicts," said Christensen's lawyer, explaining to Galina Petlitsa the grounds for the mitigation of punishment to the believer.

Correctional colony No. 3 in Lgov

The lawyer described the mistakes made by the courts, which put Christensen in prison. As stated in an appeal ruling of the Supreme Court on October 18, 2016, which confirmed the liquidation of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Oryol," believers in Russia "are not deprived of the opportunity to perform their own religious worship. Contrary to this, the courts interpreted Christensen's private religion as the continuation of a banned legal entity.

"Judge Galina Petlitsa made a fair decision. This is a brave and honest act, which is not often decided recently by the judges hearing the cases of Jehovah's Witnesses," said the representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, Yaroslav Sivulski.

Replacing the punishment of a believer means for Christensen the opportunity to go free without any additional restrictions, except for the obligation to pay the fine, said Christensen's advocate.

Currently, there are 10 convicts in Russian colonies for the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, while another 24 people are imprisoned. A total of 353 people who hold the views of Jehovah's Witnesses are accused of extremism for their Christian faith. The religious persecution continues despite assurances from the Russian government and Vladimir Putin that there is no reason to persecute Jehovah's Witnesses.