Believers in pre-trial detention centers receive hundreds of letters of support from all over the world

By April 15, 2019, Yuriy Savelyev, who had been languishing in jail for his faith for almost six months, had received 715 letters with words of support and small gifts. Australia, Austria, Belarus, Great Britain, Poland, Russia, USA, Ukraine, France are just some of the countries whose residents decided to support the 64-year-old believer from Novosibirsk. Fellow believers and simply caring people write him words of support and encouragement, and some even send small parcels, putting a chocolate bar or a postcard in them.

The neighbors in the cell are surprised by so many letters and do not stop asking Yuri questions. Especially surprising for them is that the letters come from people he does not know. People who visited Yuriy in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Novosibirsk region report that the flow of letters was a great encouragement for him and an occasion for interesting conversations. According to him, he is respected by his cellmates for his beliefs and dignified behavior, and they even protected him from unfair treatment.

This situation is also typical for other Russian Jehovah's Witnesses behind bars. They also reported a never-ending stream of letters. Despite the increasing number of criminal cases, the number of believers in pre-trial detention centers has recently been decreasing. At the moment it is 20 people.