Police Raids Jehovah's Witnesses in Asha, Chelyabinsk Region

On June 11, 2021, in the town of Asha, Chelyabinsk Region, several apartments of local believers were searched. After interrogations, the believers were released.

According to updated data, five families of Jehovah's Witnesses in Asha and neighboring Minyar (Chelyabinsk Region) were searched. On June 9, 2021, Oksana Makarenko, judge of the Tractorozavodsky District Court of Chelyabinsk, issued an order to search the home of 49-year-old Andrey Perminov, a disabled person, as part of a criminal case under part 1 Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code. The believer moves around in a wheelchair and can't do without assistance.

At 6:30 a.m. there was a knock at the door of Perminovs' couple. Guests introduced themselves as employees of the housing management company. Five people, headed by an investigator for particularly important cases Yevgeny Dolgayev and accompanied by two riot policemen and an employee of the management company, entered the apartment. The search lasted about two and a half hours, during which Andrey was forced to stay in bed. They confiscated electronic devices, bank cards, data storage devices, and personal records.

Only after the search, Andrey was allowed to get dressed and get into his wheelchair. Due to the believer's state of health, the interrogation was conducted on the spot. The law enforcers were asked, "How can you explain the lectures found in your possession about the worship of Jehovah God?" During the interrogation, the couple used Article 51 of the Russian Constitution, even though Natalia was threatened that she would be put in jail for it. The Perminovs experienced severe stress, a sense of helplessness, and fear for their family's future.

Another local believer, 28-year-old Andrey Fedorov, had his car alarm go off at 5:30 in the morning. When he went out to check if everything was all right, he was attacked from behind and laid face down on the pavement. Eight law enforcers, two of whom were FSB officers in camouflage and with guns, put Andrey, his wife, and his sister against the wall and read the search warrant. Electronic devices, data carriers, personal records, and bank card were seized from them.

Simultaneously, law enforcers searched the neighboring house, where Andrey's father, 52-year-old Vadim Fedorov, lives. That morning there were only two underage children and their grandmother at home. One of the law enforcers threatened Andrey that if he did not report the whereabouts of his father, the children would be taken away by guardianship.

Vadim Fedorov soon arrived from a nearby town, where he was with his wife on business, worried that the family members were not in touch. Law enforcement officers were waiting outside the house for the believer. They reported that in his absence they searched the house and seized a Bible, a computer, a Bible game, and two walkie-talkies.

After the search believers were taken for questioning to the Investigative Committee. They were asked if they knew Andrey Perminov, if they were members of Jehovah's Witnesses organization and if they conducted worship services with the help of Zoom. Vadim was threatened with the fact that if he did not cooperate with the investigation he would ruin his and his children's lives and the "extremist" article would become a "stigma for life." The believers took advantage of Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and were released 20 minutes later.

The raid in Asha and Minyar is not the first case of harassment of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Chelyabinsk region. Dmitry Vinogradov was recently convicted for his belief in God.