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A Series of Searches in Southwest Moscow. Three Believers Detained
MoscowOn August 25, 2021 law enforcers searched at least five apartments in the Tyoply Stan district of Moscow. Most of the victims were Jehovah's Witnesses. After interrogation, Eduard Sviridov, Sean Pike, and Aleksandr Rumyantsev were sent to jail. It is expected that on 27 August the Cheremushkinsky district court of Moscow will choose a measure of restraint for them.
Update.
On August 27, 2021, the Cheremushkinsky District Court of Moscow imposed on Jehovah's Witnesses Alexander Rumyantsev and Eduard Sviridov a measure of restraint in the form of detention for a period of 1 month and 29 days, that is, until October 24, 2021 inclusive.
Judge Natalia Zhuravleva on the same day granted the petition of investigator Zubkov to detain 49-year-old Sean Pike, a citizen of the Russian Federation and Guyana, for the same period. The court chose such a severe measure of restraint for the believer despite the fact that he has two dependent young children with chronic diseases.
Three believers are accused of "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the investigator, conversations about the Bible "have an increased public danger."
All Jehovah's Witnesses detained in Teply Stan were quarantined for two weeks in SIZO-7 in Verkhniye Polya, after which they will be transferred to SIZO-2 in Butyrka in Moscow.
The investigation is being conducted by Vladimir Zubkov from the South-Western Administrative District Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for Moscow. The searches took place in the early morning, beginning at approximately 6:00 AM. The task forces consisted of 7 people, including armed masked law enforcers. The investigators made a video recording of the intrusion. Among the items seized were electronic devices, storage media, bank cards, passports, and children's drawings.
Sean Pike, 49, has a wife and two young children. Aleksandr Rumyantsev, 44, is unmarried and his mother, whom he took care of, was also affected by the search. Eduard Sviridov is 57 years old and married. The families of the detainees were allowed to transfer some necessary things to the temporary detention facility.
After 2017, followers of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are erroneously charged with crimes under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code, as investigators interpret ordinary religious practice as participation in the activities of an organization banned by the court. Often the victims of searches and detentions are also acquaintances, relatives of believers or even random persons taken for Jehovah's Witnesses by mistake.
The news is being supplemented.
