In the suburbs, believers defend their innocence before a criminal court

On January 9, 2017, the Sergiev Posad City Court began consideration of a criminal case under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (extremism) against two local elders of the Jehovah's Witnesses community. Earlier, on March 4, 2016, the court acquitted these believers on rehabilitative grounds, but the court of appeal sent the case for a new trial.

The case against Vyacheslav Stepanov and Andrey Sivak was initiated in April 2013. The operatives entered the worship service, made a covert video recording and handed the recording to an expert collaborating with them, mathematics teacher N. Kryukova, who "discovered" "signs of extremism" in the words of believers. The expert's conclusions were refuted during the court hearings, and the believers were acquitted. However, the Moscow Regional Court returned the case to the court of first instance. The new trial was entrusted to Judge Lilia Baranova.