Court of Appeal Rejects Posthumous Rehabilitation of Valeriy Baylo

On April 22, the Krasnodar Regional Court announced its decision to terminate the criminal case against Valeriy Baylo due to his death, despite the objections of his son. He died in the pretrial detention center a month earlier. According to the position of the RF Constitutional Court, the termination of a case on such grounds without the consent of close relatives is unlawful.

The crime report, filed with the Investigative Committee by Valeriy Baylo's lawyer, states: ""The death of my client occurred as a result of criminal negligence and inaction on the part of the administration of detention center No. 3 in Novorossiysk"". The lawyer stressed that the believer suffered from exhaustion and severe stomach pains, but the staff of the detention center systematically ignored his requests for help. Valeriy, his friends and his lawyer sought treatment for almost a year.

The believer managed to appeal the verdict. He maintained his complete innocence and requested the decision of the court of first instance, which had sentenced him to 2.5 years in a penal colony, be overturned. The verdict does not mention a single illegal action by Baylo. As his lawyer noted, although the believer was convicted of extremism, "the prosecution did not claim that he incited violence or religious hatred or enmity."

The story of Valeriy Baylo once again confirms the position of the international human rights community: the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is unjust and repressive in nature.