Yuri Zalipaev
- Criminal Code
- Article 280 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Region
- Kabardino-Balkaria
- City
- Maysky
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religionby Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, 15 September 2018
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 18 August 2017, it became known that a case of incitement to religious hatred had been opened against the chairman of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious organisation in the town of Mayskiy in connection with the fact that he distributed copies of the magazine "Awaken!" at a church service. Later it was reported that Zalipaev was also accused of calling for extremism because he allegedly called for beating Orthodox Christians and Muslims during a sermon. Zalipaev denies this. In July 2018, the case went to trial. In March 2019, it became known that the charge of incitement to hatred was dropped.
7 October 2020 acquitted on charges of calls to extremism.
Others charged under Article 280 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code
What we write about political persecution
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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.