Searches and Detentions of Jehovah's Witnesses Near the Chinese Border

On March 17, 2019, in the village of Luchegorsk (Primorye Territory), searches were carried out in the homes of citizens whom law enforcement officers consider to be Jehovah's Witnesses. The operation was carried out by FSB officers from Dalnerechensk, which is 80 kilometers away. In some places, searches and interrogations lasted for 7 hours. Two believers, Yuriy Belosludtsev and 63-year-old Sergey Sergeyev, were detained and taken to Dalnerechensk.

It is not yet known whether a criminal case has been opened and what is the fate of the detainees.

This operation took place against the backdrop of a lawsuit in Luchegorsk: the prosecutor's office is seeking to turn into state ownership the building in which Luchegorsk's Jehovah's Witnesses used to hold their services. The building was sold, the prosecutor's office is trying to invalidate the transaction.

Earlier in Primorye Krai, four (!) criminal cases had already been initiated against Jehovah's Witnesses for their faith: in Vladivostok (2), Spassk-Dalny and the village of Volno-Nadezhdinsky. Six people were sent to jail, five of them were placed under house arrest. Five more are under recognizance not to leave. 44-year-old Dmitry Barmakin has been in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Primorsky Krai for 235 days.

Law enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, as well as international organizations - the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - drew attention to this problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually."