(RNS) Three Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia were convicted and sentenced to prison for practicing their faith on Thursday (July 29). Vilen Avanesov, 68, was sentenced to six years, and his son Arsen Avanesov, 37, along with a third defendant, Aleksandr Parkov, 53, were both sentenced to six-and-a-half years. All three men have already spent more than two years in pretrial detention.
“These men should never, ever have had to spend a minute in prison, and yet they’ve been locked up for two years,” said Rachel Denber, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division. “It is never too late for Russian authorities to stop these arrests, release Jehovah’s witnesses who are behind bars, stop these criminal proceedings, and quash the convictions that have already taken place.”
Russian Court Sentences Three Jehovah s Witnesses To Prison
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Three Jehovah s Witnesses sentenced to six or more years in Russian prison for their faith
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