New searches and detentions in Kirov

On the morning of March 26, 2019, a wave of new searches began in the homes of citizens believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses in Kirov. It is known about searches in at least 10 places. Several people have been detained and interrogated are underway. The criminal case is being investigated against 58-year-old Alexander Shamov, 27-year-old Andrey Shchepin and 70-year-old Yevgeniy Udintsev.

Earlier, in October 2018, after raids on the homes of believers in Kirov, 5 people were arrested and sent to a pre-trial detention center. Currently, three of them are under house arrest, and two have been languishing in prison for 169 days, including Polish citizen Andrzej Oniszczuk. The only basis for criminal prosecution is the religion of these citizens. (The Polish consulate is monitoring what is happening with Andrzej Oniszczuk.)

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."

Updated. During the searches, Andrey Shchepin was detained. After 48 hours, he was released, and later, on March 29, on his own, without hiding from anyone, he came to court, which chose a measure of restraint for him in the form of a ban on certain actions. Alexander Shamov and Yevgeny Udintsev were released on the same day.