Gorno-Altaysk, Russia - The court will hear on December 22 an appeal filed against the head of a local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses' sentence, who was earlier found guilty of religious extremism during the case's reconsideration, Jehovah's Witnesses told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
Jehovah's Witnesses is an international religious organization. Many representatives of traditional religions consider it to be a pseudo-Christian sect. Its management center is located in St. Petersburg. According to the organization, it comprised about 7 million people as of August 2009.
The Gorno-Altaysk City Court found Alexander Kalistratov, the head of a local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses, guilty of extremism on November 3 and sentenced him to 100 hours of community service. Earlier, the same court acquitted Kalistratov on April 14 after the prosecution failed to establish the crime.
The Altai Republic Supreme Court later canceled the acquittal judgment upon the request of the prosecutor's office and remanded the case for reconsideration to the same court.
Some 48 religious articles that Kalistratov was distributing, which, as investigators believe, contain appeals to incite religious hatred, served as the reasons for initiating the criminal case.