The United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has published a 12-page opinion condemning Russia for unlawfully arresting and detaining Brother Vladimir Alushkin. The report calls on Russia to release Brother Alushkin and pay him just compensation for violating his rights.
Brother Alushkin was arrested on July 15, 2018, after nearly a dozen masked police officers with assault rifles forced their way into his home. The officers searched the apartment for almost four hours, seizing cell phones, electronic devices, Bibles, and other literature, before taking him to the investigative directorate for interrogation.
Local authorities kept Brother Alushkin in a temporary holding facility for two days before the Pervomayskiy District Court of Penza ordered his transfer to a pretrial detention center for two months. The court subsequently extended Brother Alushkin’s pretrial detention term twice. After spending nearly six months in the detention center, he was transferred to house arrest, where he remains to date.
Seeking to be exonerated and freed, Brother Alushkin appealed to the WGAD. This panel of independent human rights experts, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, handles individual claims of unlawful police detention or court-ordered house arrest, pretrial detention, and imprisonment.
After reviewing in detail Russia’s claim that Brother Alushkin was involved in extremist activity, the WGAD concluded: “All the activities that Mr. Alushkin engaged in were entirely peaceful religious discussions. It is clear to the Working Group that Mr. Alushkin did nothing more than exercise his right to freedom of religion under article 18 of the Covenant [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Russia is party to].” Therefore, the opinion states that “the Working Group wishes to emphasize that Mr. Alushkin should not have been arrested and held in pretrial detention and no trial of Mr. Alushkin should take place.” Additionally, the WGAD has requested the Russian government to “remedy the situation of Mr. Alushkin without delay,” insisting that “the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Alushkin immediately.”
The WGAD also recognized that Brother Alushkin’s case is not unique in Russia. He is “only one of the now ever-growing number of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Russian Federation who have been arrested, detained and charged with criminal activity on the basis of the mere exercise of freedom of religion”—a right protected by international law. Thus, in an effort to condemn the broader persecution of our fellow worshippers in Russia, the WGAD explicitly stated that their opinion applied not only to Brother Alushkin’s case but also to all Jehovah’s Witnesses who are “in situations similar to that of Mr. Alushkin.”
The Russian government has yet to comply with the WGAD’s recommendations. Instead, Russian authorities in Penza brought Brother Alushkin’s case to trial in August 2019. Hearings are scheduled to continue on November 15, 19, and 22, 2019.
While we hope the Russian court will consider the WGAD’s opinion when making its final judgment in Brother Alushkin’s case, like the psalmist, our full trust is in Jehovah: “I will not be afraid. . . . Jehovah is on my side as my helper . . . It is better to take refuge in Jehovah.”—Psalm 118:6-9.
