On June 26, 2020, the Lgov prison authorities illegally placed Brother Dennis Christensen in a cell of a special punishment block (EPKT), typically used for malicious offenders. Given that his health has deteriorated, the move seems to be a calculated attempt to break him. The prosecutor’s office may also be using new trumped-up charges against Brother Christensen to appeal his early release, a decision that the office supported in court just days earlier.

Brother Christensen has already served more than half of his six-year prison sentence. For over a year, he has been eligible for parole or a mitigation of his sentence. After submitting three applications, all of which were ignored, his fourth request finally went to court. On June 23, 2020, the Lgov District Court ordered the remaining part of his sentence to be replaced with a fine. A prosecutor who took part in the parole hearing, Mr. Artem Kofanov, supported the mitigation of the punishment.

Two days later, another prosecutor, Mr. Aleksei Shatunov, asserted that the court ruling was illegal, demanded that it be canceled, and called for a new trial at the same court but with a different judge. Mr. Shatunov based his request on negative reports by the Lgov prison administration that claimed Brother Christensen lacked “a favorable record of work and public life at the correctional facility.”

During Brother Christensen’s June 23 parole hearing, prison representatives had attempted to make similar arguments, but the judge determined that these arguments were invalid. The defense lawyer showed the court medical documents confirming that Brother Christensen’s health limitations excluded him from physical labor in the prison. In turn, while testifying, a prison representative admitted that they had no work available that would accommodate Brother Christensen’s physical limitations.

While the prosecutor’s office began seeking the appeal of Brother Christensen’s early release, prison authorities filed two reports against Brother Christensen. The first claimed that he was in the dining hall at the wrong time, and the second claimed that he was in the barracks in a T-shirt without a jacket. For these reasons, prison authorities placed Brother Christensen in the EPKT for ten days. According to Russian law, authorities can only take such measures when a prisoner repeatedly commits a serious violation of prison rules, and even then, only after the prisoner receives a medical examination. Since this criteria was never met in Brother Christensen’s case, there was no basis for placing him in the EPKT.

Brother Christensen and another prisoner share a cell measuring about three meters (10 ft) by two meters (7 ft). The room lacks proper ventilation and has mold, which further threatens Brother Christensen’s poor health. He suffered from pneumonia just a few months ago and has been diagnosed with a serious spinal cord condition. Brother Christensen’s lawyer revealed that “the administration of the penal colony is aware of this, but has placed him in conditions where he has to sleep on a hard bed, causing excruciating pain.”

Brother Christensen told his lawyer that at the time of the alleged violations, there were other prisoners with him but only he was sent to the EPKT. Brother Christensen’s lawyer stated, “This leads us to believe that this was all part of a coordinated plan to prevent Dennis from being released by court order.”

As Russian authorities continue to devise new and more vicious ways to attack our brothers in Russia, we remain confident that Jehovah will be their secure refuge. May we all continue to pray that Jehovah gives Brother Christensen and his wife, Irina, everything they need to remain faithful during this especially trying time.—Psalm 94:13, 21, 22.