Photo: Sergey Oganyan

Photo: Sergey Oganyan

Photo: Sergey Oganyan

Criminal Investigation and Trial

A Moscow Court Placed Sergey Oganyan, the Father of a Young Child, Under House Arrest. The Believer Spent 3 Days Behind Bars

Moscow Region

On June 5, 2020, the Babushkinskiy District Court of Moscow refused to allow the investigator to detain Sergey Oganyan, 33, who had been detained after a series of searches in Vlasiha settlement near Moscow, and sent the believer under house arrest.

Investigator E. V. Dymchenko accuses Sergey Oganyan under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at once: organization of an extremist community (part 1 of article 282.2), recruitment (part 1.1 of article 282.2) and participation in it (part 2 of article 282.2). Despite the fact that the investigator asked for a strict measure of restraint - pre-trial detention - the prosecutor did not support this request. He asked to limit him to house arrest.

As a result, the judge of Babushkinskiy district court Evgeniya Babinova refused the investigator in the detention of a believer. She took into account the following: he has a permanent place of residence in the Moscow region, is employed, earlier was not under the trial, has a minor child. In addition, there is no evidence that Sergey will obstruct the investigation and will abscond.

However, the judge considered it necessary to place the believer under house arrest, forbidding him from communicating with witnesses in the case and using any kind of communication.

It is worth mentioning that earlier Judge Evgeniya Babinova decided to put the believers from Chekhov near Moscow under house arrest.

Case of Ohanyan in Vlasikha

Case History
In June 2020, searches were carried out in 5 homes of local Jehovah’s Witnesses in the village of Vlasikha. One of the believers, artist and writer Sergey Ohanyan, was detained. In May, investigator Yevgeny Dymchenko opened a criminal case against the believer under 3 articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: organization of the activities of an extremist organization, involvement of other persons in this activity and participation in it. Sergey spent 3 days behind bars, after which he was placed under house arrest, and 10 months later - on his own recognizance. In addition, Sergey had to undergo a psychiatric examination, during which he was pressured to be involuntarily hospitalized for refusing to answer questions about his attitude towards representatives of other religions. In October 2021, the investigation excluded Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation from the charges.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Moscow Region
Locality:
Vlasikha
Court case number:
12002460042000047
Initiated:
May 28, 2020
Current case stage:
case dismissed
Investigating:
Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Moscow Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Case History