Russian court hands down first-ever acquittal to a Jehovah’s Witness charged with extremism

A Russian court has acquitted a Jehovah Witness charged with extremism for the first time since the country’s Supreme Court outlawed the religious group in 2017. 

On Tuesday, November 23, a district court in Vladivostok acquitted local Jehovah’s Witness Dmitry Barmakin of charges of organizing the activities of an extremist group. 

Tuesday’s verdict comes after an October 2021 Supreme Court ruling, which established that joint worship practiced by Jehovah’s Witnesses “does not constitute a crime” and should not be considered extremist activity. 

Accordingly, Tuesday’s verdict states that Barmakin “never carried out extremist activities, he practiced the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses, including meeting and discussing his beliefs with fellow believers.” The court found no evidence of a crime in Barmakin’s actions, since the Jehovah’s Witnesses were “exercising the right to freedom of religion enshrined in the Constitution of Russia.”

Dmitry Barmakin was arrested in Vladivostok in July 2018. He claimed that the accusations against him were the result of a “provocation” orchestrated by an undercover FSB officer. Barmakin was released from pre-trial detention in October 2019.

The prosecution had asked the court to sentence Barmakin to nine years in prison.

Since the Russian Supreme Court outlawed the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization in 2017, hundreds of criminal cases have been opened against members of the religious group.

In August 2017, a Moscow court acquitted two Jehovah’s Witnesses of criminal charges of inciting hatred or enmity.