RUSSIA: Buddhist's retrial, Protestant pastor's appeal fails

On 22 October, Moscow City Court overturned the conviction and 8-year prison term handed to Moscow Buddhist leader Ilya Vasilyev for a Facebook post about a Russian missile attack in Ukraine made "solely out of religious conviction". No date has yet been set for a retrial, and Vasilyev remains in a Moscow prison. On 25 November, Moscow Regional Court upheld the 4-year jail term on Protestant pastor Nikolay Romanyuk for a 2022 anti-war sermon. "Dad is awaiting transfer to the penal colony," his d