Searches of 3 Women Carried out in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Criminal Case Opened Against Them for Believing in Jehovah God

On October 20, 2021, in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, searches were carried out at the home of 54-year-old Elena Nesterova, 61-year-old Tatyana Svoboda and her peer Tatyana Bondarenko. A criminal case has been initiated against the women under an extremist article.

At about 8 am, representatives of the Investigative Committee, accompanied by armed OMON police in masks and bulletproof vests, as well as attesting witnesses, broke into the apartments of the believers. The security officials who came to Nesterova and Bondarenko were armed with a crowbar. At Tatyana Svoboda’s home, they knocked on the door with their hands and feet so loudly that neighbors began to go out to the noise.

Law enforcers claimed they were looking for prohibited items such as weapons and drugs (although Jehovah's Witnesses are known worldwide as those who do not accept the use of either one), as well as "prohibited literature" and any material that would confirm the religious affiliation of the women. As a result, the security forces confiscated Bibles in the Synodal translation, electronic devices and personal records. “The representatives of the authorities behaved correctly, allowed us to be put in order and take medicine,” said one of the victims.

After the searches, the believers were taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee located on the other side of the city. Nesterova was asked questions about her knowing other Jehovah's Witnesses. The investigator said that she had "only two options: recognizance agreement or a pre-trial detention center." Later, all the detainees were released under recognizance agreement. Nesterova, Svoboda and Bondarenko found themselves far from home without money and phones.

The unmotivated persecution affected not only the persons involved in the cases, but also their relatives. Yelena Nesterova has a sick mother, and worries about her daughter aggravated her condition. Tatyana Bondarenko's husband was discharged from the hospital on the day of the search. Arriving home, he found an empty apartment with traces of a search. The man was shocked, considering that he could not even contact his wife. During the search, Tatyana Svoboda's blood pressure increased greatly.

Earlier, criminal cases for their faith were initiated against 20 more Jehovah's Witnesses from the Khabarovsk Territory. In the summer of 2021, Nikolay Aliyev from Komsomolsk-on-Amur was sentenced to 4.5 years of probation.