Moscow (AsiaNews/F18) – Alexander Kalistratov, chairman of the Gorno-altaisk chapter of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, was convicted for possession of “extremist” literature, and given a two-year prison sentence. The sentence is final, and Kalistratov’s only recourse is the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) where his lawyer filed on appeal arguing that his conviction was religiously motivated.
The original charges were laid after it was determined that he possessed copies of Jehovah’s Witnesses publications like Watchtower and Awake, whose opinions, according to the court, were “extremist” even if solely religious in nature. For this reason, local experts told the Forum 18 news agency that the court convicted him for his religious beliefs.
For Attorney Viktor Zhenkov, it is surprising that it took the court just three working days to rule on the matter even if the case includes 13 volumes of evidence.
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