In Kamchatka, another person was sent to a pre-trial detention center for his faith

On August 19, 2018, in Yelizovo (Kamchatka Territory), searches were conducted in at least 3 homes of citizens who are suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. 41-year-old Konstantin Bazhenov, his wife Snezhana Bazhenova, and 71-year-old Vera Zolotova were sent to a temporary detention facility (IVS). On August 21, 2018, Ruslan Maslov, judge of the Yelizovsky District Court of the Kamchatka Territory, chose a measure of restraint for Konstantin Bazhenov in the form of 2-month detention until October 18, 2018; Snezhana Bazhenova and Vera Zolotova were released after being detained for 2 days.

A total of 11 citizens were detained in Yelizovo, including Elizaveta, the Bazhenovs' minor daughter. After many hours of interrogation, most were released. It became known that a criminal case was initiated under Article 282.2(1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of an extremist organization).

Earlier, on July 30, 2018, in the city of Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka Territory), dozens of armed FSB officers conducted several searches in the homes of believers. Spouses Mikhail Popov and Elena Popova were detained. The court of first instance sent 56-year-old Mikhail Popov to a pre-trial detention center, and his wife, after 4 days in a temporary detention facility, under house arrest. Later, the Kamchatka Regional Court released the spouses.

Russian law enforcement officers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Believers insist on their complete innocence. Currently, criminal prosecution for faith, accompanied by rough searches and arrests of law-abiding citizens, takes place in 7 of the 9 regions of the Far Eastern Federal District (excluding the Sakhalin Region and the Chukotka Autonomous Region), namely: in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Amur, Magadan and Jewish Autonomous Regions, Primorsky (3), Khabarovsk and Kamchatka (2) territories.

The town of Yelizovo is located 30 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Konstantin Aleksandrovich Bazhenov, detained in Yelizovo, is the namesake of 43-year-old Konstantin Viktorovich Bazhenov, who was sent to the Saratov pre-trial detention center on similar grounds.