Dennis Christensen

Dennis Ole Christensen (born December 18, 1972 in Copenhagen ) is a Danish citizen who has been imprisoned in Russia since May 2017 for belonging to the Jehovah's Witness community .

Life

Christensen grew up in Denmark as the son of Jehovah's Witnesses and was baptized as a Jehovah's Witness in 1989. In 1995 he temporarily moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to work as a volunteer in the construction of buildings for the Jehovah's Witnesses religious community. He liked it in Russia; In 1999 he moved to Murmansk . In 2002 he married Irina there, a Russian citizen. In 2006 the couple moved to the central Russian city of Oryol . Christensen worked there independently as a carpenter and interior decorator; In his spare time, he was involved in helping the local Jehovah's Witness community.

Imprisoned and sentenced Christensen for practicing his religion

On May 25, 2017, heavily armed members of the Russian Domestic Intelligence Service ( FSB) stormed a Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Oryol during a service and arrested 16 people, including Dennis Christensen. At the request of the FSB, the Orjol District Court ordered Christensen to be held in custody for 60 days; by attending the Jehovah's Witnesses service, he was acting as an illegal extremist organization.

In July 2017, the court extended the pre-trial detention to 6 months and rejected an application by the hitherto innocent Christensen for release on bail. Christensen's request to have him under house arrest until the investigation was completed was denied, despite the Danish embassy guaranteeing the Russian authorities - who had confiscated Christensen's Danish passport - that they would not allow Christensen to leave the country. After a trial lasting about a year and almost two years in prison, he was sentenced to six years in prison on February 6, 2019, for working for the Jehovah's Witnesses religious community.

Christensen appealed. In his closing statement before the appeals court in May 2019, Christensen said:

"[...] Is it even possible to forbid a person to believe in God and then imprison them for it? In my opinion this is wrong. [...] During this trial, I heard that some think it is extremist to hold one's belief to be true and to confess it publicly. However, this is completely illogical, because all believing people think they have the right faith. Otherwise, why should they continue to profess their religion if they are not convinced that it is the true religion? If this argument is enough to declare someone extremist, then Jesus would have to be labeled an extremist. I will not give up knowing that I am innocent in relation to these allegations and that I have the truth on my side. I am not afraid of going to jail, although it would be a totally unjust decision. [...] I am calm inside and feel peace. God will never leave me. [...] "

The Court of Appeal upheld the first instance decision, after which Christensen was transferred to a prison in Lgow .

Following Christensen's early release petitions, a Russian court ordered the release of Christensen in June 2020 if he were willing to pay a fine of 400,000 rubles in lieu of his remaining prison term, but prosecutors appealed. At that time, 34 other Jehovah's Witnesses were in Russian prisons because of their beliefs, 24 were under house arrest, and over 300 criminal proceedings were ongoing.

Background of his conviction

In July 2002, Russia passed the Law to Combat Extremist Activities . The law should officially serve the fight against terrorism. However, extremist activities within the meaning of the law include not only terrorist and anti-state activities and their support, but also “propaganda” that an ethnic group or religion is superior. The Council of Europe's Venice Commission expressed concern that the vague wording of the law could be interpreted in such a way that it would undermine human rights. On the basis of this law and the lobbying work of the Russian Orthodox Church and the anti-sect movement, there were initially local restrictions on the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. On June 14, 2016, the local association of Jehovah's Witnesses in Christensen's place of residence, Oryol, was dissolved by the authorities.

In 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation classified Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organization, whereupon the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses was banned, almost 400 local Jehovah's Witnesses associations in Russia were dissolved and their property was released for state confiscation. The prohibition was based on the Law to Combat Extremist Activities : Jehovah's Witnesses claiming to teach the true religion and the only way to salvation makes them an extremist association. The same legal argument could theoretically have been used against many other churches. In the course of this procedure, the Russian state promised that the ban on legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses would not affect the freedom of individual Jehovah's Witnesses to practice their faith. Nonetheless, individual Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested and accused of “extremist” activities; Christensen's conviction was the first to come after the 2017 supreme court ruling.

In December 2018, the situation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia was discussed at a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Human Rights Council of the Russian President . Putin said that people should not be regarded as members of destructive or terrorist groups because of their beliefs. This temporarily raised expectations that the situation of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia could improve. Those hopes were dashed when Christensen was sentenced less than two months later. Christensen's condemnation was understood as a signal from Russia that the situation of Jehovah's Witnesses would not improve despite what Putin said in December 2018, and that foreign citizens should also expect to be affected by the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

Reactions to the case against Christensen

The judgment against Christensen drew numerous international reactions:

The Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen called on Russia to respect religious freedom and promised Christensen that he would support Denmark.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet expressed concern about the sentencing Christensen. She said the high sentence sets "a dangerous precedent" and "criminalizes the free exercise of religion or belief by Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia." She urged the Russian government to "revise the law on combating extremist activity, particularly clarifying the unclear and open definition of 'extremist activity'" and called for the "dropping charges against anyone involved in the practice." of their right to freedom of religion, belief, opinion or assembly are imprisoned and released from custody. ”The Council of Europe , the EU and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom have also called for Christen's release.

The human rights organizations Memorial International , Amnesty International , Human Rights Watch and Forum 18 viewed Christensen as a prisoner of conscience and requested his release.

The Democrat Eliot Engel and Republican Michael McCaul brought in May 2020 a draft resolution in the US House of Representatives one, after which the House should decide to demand the release Christensen and other political prisoners of Russia.

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d} Dennis Christensen , United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
2. ↑ Video of the storming of the Kingdom Hall, initially published by glavny.tv, now available on jw.org
3. ↑ ^{a b} Wolfram Slupina: Religious Freedom and Jehovah's Witnesses in Putin's Russia, Georgia, and CIS. in: Religious Freedom: Its Confirmation and Violation During the 20th and 21st centuries. (= Religion - State - Society 18 (1 + 2-2017)). P. 189.
4. ↑ Reproduction of Dennis Christensen's Last Word before the Orjol Regional Court on May 16, 2019, on jw.org.
5. ^ Imprisoned Jehovah's Witness Gets Early Release in Russia. The New York Times, June 23, 2020.
6. ^ European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) Draft Opinion on The Federal Law On Combatting Extremist Activity of The Russion Federation. March 7, 2012.
7. ↑ Mikhail Antonov: Religion, Sexual Minorities, and the Rule of Law in Russia. in: Journal of Law, Religion and State. 7 (2019). P. 254.
8. ↑ Elizabeth A. Clark, Dmytro Vovk: Religion During the Russian Ukranian Conflict. Routledge, USA, 2020.
9. ^ ^{A b} Danish Jehovah's Witness sentenced to six years in prison in Russia. The Washington Post, February 6, 2019.
10. ↑ Comment by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on criminalizing the right to freedom of religion for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), 7 February 2019.
11. ↑ Les corapporteurs pour le suivi de la Russie, préoccupés par la condamnation d'un Témoin de Jéhovah pour 'extrémisme'. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. February 7, 2019.
12. ^ Statement by the Spokesperson on the sentencing of Dennis Christensen in Russia. February 13, 2019.
13. ↑ In Russia freedom of conscience is a fiction. Memorial Germany, February 8, 2019.
14. ↑ No justice for Danish Jehovah's Witnesses. Amnesty International, August 14, 2019.
15. ↑ Russia: Jehovah's Witness Convicted. February 6, 2019.
16. ↑ Russia: "6-year jail sentence for believing in God". Forum 18, February 6, 2019.
17. ↑ H.Res.958 - Condemning the practice of politically motivated imprisonment and calling for the immediate release of political prisoners in the Russian Federation and urging action by the United States Government to impose sanctions with respect to persons responsible for that form of human rights abuse .