21 February 2012, 20:00
Krasnodar Territory: court appoints examination of the book Jehovah's Witnesses for extremism
The Uspenskiy District Court of the Krasnodar Territory, which considers the case on recognizing the book "Bearing Thorough Witness About God's Kingdom", published by the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist publication, has decided to appoint a re-examination of the book.
The decision on the examination was made by Judge Olga Izrailova, who fully satisfied the appropriate petition of the Prosecutor of the Uspenskiy District, Anton Omelchenko, a lawyer and a representative of the "Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania", told the "Caucasian Knot".
On February 14, the book was sent to the Krasnodar laboratory of forensic examination, says the decision of the Uspenskiy District Court. Earlier, Alla Bogomaz and Ekaterina Karlova, specialists of this laboratory, came to the conclusion that the book "has statements aimed at inciting hatred."
"The examination was entrusted to the same agency, which had prepared the pre-investigation study. This may mean that it can be given to other experts of this institution. On the one hand, there is no outright ban to appoint examinations in this way. On the other hand, of course, there are questions of competence and impartiality of such experts, which make grounds to challenge them. We asked to challenge them, and proposed other experts and questions for them. However, the only point in our petition that the court has granted was to allow us to be present during the examination," said Anton Omelchenko.
In connection with the appointment of the examination, the court sessions on this case have been postponed, the website of Jehovah's Witnesses has reported.
