Denis Peresunko
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 282.3 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Verdict
- Imprisonment (general regime), Restriction of liberty
- Sentence
- 6 years 3 months
- Date of verdict
- 2021-09-22
- Region
- Volgograd Oblast
- City
- Volgograd
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial Human Rights Centre, 24 September 2021
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
On 16 May 2019, he was detained as part of a case on the activities of an extremist organisation due to his involvement in the Jehovah's Witnesses community, but was released in the status of a witness. Representatives of this community are prosecuted under extremist articles solely for religious activities: meetings, joint worship services, attracting new supporters. On 23 August, Peresunko was detained as a suspect in the case, he was taken into custody. Later, the measure of restriction was cahnged to a ban on certain actions. On 10 December 2020, the court did not extend the ban on leaving the house from 22:00 to 6:00.
23 September 2021 sentenced to six years and three months of general regime colony, taken into custody in the courtroom. On 1 October it became known that Peresunko was sent to the colony pending appeal. Later it was reported that he was in the pre-trial detention centre, not in the colony.
Others charged under Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
OVD-Info has been designated an «extremist» organisation in Russia — by decision of the Russian authorities, like other independent human rights and media projects.