The Kuraginsky District Court sentenced Anton Anyanov and Vasily Belko, members of the Church of the Last Testament (CPZ, the Vissarion community) in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, to a sentence with reprieve, reports TASS.
The court found them guilty of obstructing journalistic activities and damaging the video camera while filming material on the CPH. As a result, Anyanov and Belko received a two-year suspended prison sentence with a two-year probationary period.
Community defense representative Vissarion said the verdict will be appealed.
Recall that the film crew was preparing material on CPZ activities in August 2020. While filming in the so-called Abode of Dawn, local residents tore the microphone from the journalist's hands and damaged the camera.
At the end of September 2020, the founder of the religious community Sergei Torop, who himself calls Vissarion, and the spokesperson of the community, Vadim Redkin, were arrested, as well as the director of the & # 39; CPZ school Vladimir Vedernikov. According to the survey, community leaders attracted money from citizens in order to generate income from religious activities. They are indicted in a case initiated under Part 1 of Art. 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Establishment of a religious association whose activities are associated with violence against citizens”. In addition, in the spring, the court complied with the request of the regional forestry ministry for early termination of the agreement with the community for the free use of a forest plot in the forest of Tabrat, where the buildings used by the organization as a skite pilgrimage site are located.