The case of Klokov and Manuylov in Barnaul

Case History

In the summer of 2023, the Investigative Committee in Barnaul opened a criminal case against Jehovah’s Witness Valeriy Klokov. His house was searched. After interrogation and two days in a temporary detention facility, the believer was placed under house arrest. In April 2024, the charge against Klokov was reclassified as organizing the activities of an extremist organization. At the same time, another defendant appeared in the case—Vitaliy Manuylov. He was accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and was also placed under house arrest.
Timeline

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    July 10, 2023 Case initiated Art. 282.2 (2)

    Evgeny Kozyuchenko, Senior Investigator for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Altai Territory, is initiating a criminal case against 37-year-old Valery Klokov under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).

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    July 29, 2023 Search Case initiated House arrest Interrogation Temporary detention facility

    Investigator Yevgeny Kozyuchenko, accompanied by FSB officer Artyom Suslikov and two witnesses, searches the home of Valery Klokov. The investigator refuses to call Valery's lawyer. Electronic devices, flash drives, personal records, postcards and a passport are seized from the believer and his wife. The search lasts approximately 2 hours. Then the believer is taken for interrogation to the investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Altai Territory. The investigator summons a lawyer by appointment. At Klokov's request, a lawyer also arrives under the agreement.

    After a personal search, the believer is detained and sent to a temporary detention facility, where a second personal search and fingerprinting are conducted.

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    July 31, 2023 House arrest

    The judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Barnaul, Danila Teslya, satisfies the investigator's petition and sends Valery Klokov under house arrest.

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    April 5, 2024 Art. 282.2 (1)

    Investigator Yevgeny Kozuchenko reclassifies Klokov's charge from Part 2 to Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. In his opinion, the believer's guilt lies in the fact that at divine services he spoke of "the opposition of Jehovah and Satan ... about the need to live in accordance with the moral laws established by Jehovah, which is manifested in respect for authority (divine), in preference for the spiritual to the material, which is propaganda of the exclusivity and superiority of persons on the basis of belonging to the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.