Case History
In February 2018, police officers, the Interior Ministry Investigative Department, and armed SOBR fighters raided at least 16 homes of local Jehovah’s Witnesses in Belgorod. Peaceful believers were subjected to rough verbal and physical treatment. Dozens of people, including a group of people with hearing disabilities, were forcibly taken to the police for questioning. The last of the interrogated was released only the next morning. Two believers, Anatoliy Chaliapin and Sergey Voikov, were detained for two days and then released on their own recognizance. They are accused of participating in the activities of a banned organization, as the investigation interprets the participation of men in the services of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The criminal case was handled by an investigation team consisting of 12 employees of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Belgorod Region. In August 2019, the investigation of the case was suspended, but a month later the prosecutor’s office overturned this decision, and the case was sent for additional investigation.
