In Kislovodsk, Law Enforcement Officers Planted "Extremist Materials" on Jehovah's Witnesses

On the morning of November 8, 2016, in Kislovodsk (Stavropol Territory), about 15 riot police and other law enforcement officers came to the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses at 40 Kirov Street with a search warrant. Only one believer was allowed to be present at the search, the chairman of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. For objective reasons, he could not control the actions of 15 strangers. As a result of the search, nine books were found planted in different parts of the building.

The search was carried out under a ridiculous pretext - on suspicion that the building may contain office equipment stolen from a certain organization. As expected, the stolen equipment was not found.

The believers are convinced that the books were planted on them, because the day before, in the usual manner, they inspected the building for the absence of prohibited literature in it.

It is noteworthy that on September 20, 2016, in the nearby village of Nezlobnaya, a surveillance camera clearly recorded how law enforcement officers unceremoniously planted banned books on believers. (In Kislovodsk, law enforcement officers prudently seized the DVR.) The invasion of Nezlobnaya was carried out under an even more ridiculous pretext - suspicion of possession of weapons.

A similar incident also occurred on October 13, 2016 in the city of Saransk, where a large group of police officers (about 20 people) invaded the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses. Masked men stood close to each other, huddled against an empty closet, broke down its doors and "found" literature from the FSEM.

Jehovah's Witnesses strongly object to labelling them "extremists," emphasizing that extremism is deeply alien to their biblically based views and morals. They do not use literature from the Federal List of Extremist Materials and do not allow it to appear in religious buildings.