Illustrative photo. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons / [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UAZ_Police.jpg)

Illustrative photo. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Illustrative photo. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

A Series of Searches of Believers Took Place in the Town of Balakovo. Five Men Were Detained

Saratov Region

It is known about at least five searches, which took place in Balakovo on the evening of March 23, 2022. Detained were Aleksey Bogatov, 61, Vladimir Mavrin, 59, Sergey Tyurin, 27, Yevgeniy Fomashin, 44, and Oleg Yandutov, 52. Nothing is known about the alleged crime or the measure of restraint.

Update. According to updated data, searches took place at 8 addresses of Jehovah’s Witnesses and affected a total of 14 people. Oleg Yandutov is at large, while another believer, 30-year-old Andrey Murych, has been detained. As a result, five believers from Balakovo were placed in a temporary detention facility. On March 25, 2022, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention for a period of 2 months. They are in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Saratov region.

It is known that there is at least one FSB investigator in the investigation team. Law enforcement officers in Balakovo resorted to falsifying evidence against Jehovah's Witnesses before: right under the surveillance cameras a man, feigning interest in the Bible, planted a banned book on believers, and after that the law enforcement officers raided the building (see video from 00:02:20).

All the searches took place in the evening, while the worshippers were talking to each other via video-conferencing. The law enforcement officers entered one family under the guise of checking the meter readings. All the previous week the believers had been spying on them.

The Case of Mavrin and Others in Balakovo

Case History
In 2021, the residents of the city of Balakovo were under surveillance, their conversations were recorded. Considering peaceful discussions of the Bible to be extremism, the FSB initiated a criminal case and received permission to search the homes of the believers. A month later, security forces invaded eight homes of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Aleksey Bogatov, Vladimir Mavrin, Yevgeniy Fomashin, Andrey Murych and Sergey Tyurin were placed in a temporary holding facility after interrogations held at night. Two days later, they were transfered to a pretrial detention center 170 km from home. They spent 10 months in custody. In January 2023, the court ruled to change the preventive measure against the believers to a ban on certain actions. In November 2023, the district court announced the verdict: Aleksey Bogatov and Vladimir Mavrin a 6-yesr suspended sentence; Andrey Murych, Sergey Tyurin and Yevgeniy Fomashin fined 300,000 rubles.
Timeline

Persons in case

Bogatov
Aleksey
Fomashin
Yevgeniy
Mavrin
Vladimir
Murych
Andrey
Tyurin
Sergey

Criminal case

Region:
Saratov Region
Locality:
Balakovo
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, "they resumed and organized the activities of the local religious unit [of Jehovah's Witnesses] on the territory of the city of Balakovo, expressed in the convening of meetings, the implementation of preaching activities, ... fundraising under the guise of donations"
Court case number:
12207630001000004
Initiated:
February 11, 2022
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Branch of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Saratov Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-371/2023
Court of First Instance:
Балаковский районный суд Саратовской области
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Наталья Никитинская
Case History
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