A wave of searches in homes of believers in Yalta. A new criminal case was initiated

On March 11, 2021, one more series of searches took place in Yalta in at least 9 homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. Four people were detained for interrogation, one of them was taken by the security forces to Simferopol.

During the search, all electronic equipment and a large amount of money were seized from 42-year-old Taras Kuzio. The security officials did not wait for the believer to open the door and broke it open. Previously, he had already been searched twice.. Then the security forces sought connections with Artyom Gerasimov, one of Jehovah's Witness, who was later sentenced to 6 years in prison for his faith.

According to preliminary data, the reason for the raid was a new criminal case "on the financing of an extremist organization." The searches were sanctioned by Viktor Krapko, judge of the Kievskiy district court of Simferopol. Details are being clarified.

As follows from the materials of hundreds of criminal cases initiated against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, the security forces consider peaceful gatherings of believers to be a crime when they jointly study the Bible, listen to biblical speeches and participate in joint chants and prayers. Investigators automatically interpret this religion as a continuation of the activities of the liquidated organizations. The criminal prosecution continues, despite repeated assurances from the Russian authorities that the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited.