During the assault, the security forces knocked out windows and doors. Chelyabinsk. September 2022

During the assault, the security forces knocked out windows and doors. Chelyabinsk. September 2022

During the assault, the security forces knocked out windows and doors. Chelyabinsk. September 2022

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

In Chelyabinsk, Special Forces Stormed the Apartments of Jehovah's Witnesses. Believer Arrested

Chelyabinsk Region

On September 8, 2022, a raid on 13 houses of Jehovah's Witnesses in Chelyabinsk took place — the security forces broke out the windows and doors of the apartments. One of the believers, Dmitriy Dolzhikov, was detained and taken 1,500 kilometers away to Novosibirsk, where he was taken into custody.

The searches in the houses of the believers began in the evening and continued until midnight, and video footage was taken. Some were detained and taken away for interrogation to the Investigative Committee, while others were given summons for the next morning. These events affected about 34 people in total.

Electronic devices, storage media, bank cards, passports, religious literature and personal records were confiscated from believers. A large amount of personal savings was taken from one family.

Two of the families affected live in the same apartment block on the 3rd and 7th floors. The security forces broke in their flats through the windows. To do this, they descended on ropes from the roof of the house and knocked out the windows of the balcony doors. One of the believers was handcuffed and laid on the floor, he has been kept in this position in the cold for about half an hour.

In another dwelling, where a woman lives with her daughter, the security forces broke down the iron door without waiting for it to be opened voluntary. One of the women was in bed with a high temperature due to illness.

Operational activities were held with the participation of employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation A. Sivulko and E. Kozlov. According to believers, investigator of the Investigative Committee Aleksandr Chepenko, who initiated a wave of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Chelyabinsk Region, was also present at the interrogation.

Two days later, on September 10, the court arrested Dmitriy Dolzhikov. He was placed in SIZO No. 1 in Novosibirsk.

In the Chelyabinsk Region, 11 11 people are already being persecuted for their faith in Jehovah God. Six of them received unjust convictions.

The Case of Dolzhikov in Novosibirsk

Case History
In May 2020, Dmitriy Dolzhikov became one of the defendants in a criminal case for his faith, which was initiated by the Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region. When the believer moved to another region, his case was made into a separate proceeding. His new place of residence was searched in September 2022. Dolzhikov was interrogated and then taken back to Novosibirsk, where he was placed in a pretrial detention center for 2.5 months. The believer was under house arrest from November 2022. The court began hearing his case in December of the same year. The case involved the testimony of a secret witness and two Orthodox activists-“anti-sectarians”, and many of the materials in the case did not relate to Dolzhikov, but other believers. In June 2023, the court sentenced Dmitriy to 3 years in a penal colony and 1 year restriction of freedom, which was replaced with forced labor. In September 2023, the court of appeal upheld this decision. Since November, Dmitriy has been in the correctional center at IK-9 in Novosibirsk, where he was assigned to work as a shoemaker at a city enterprise.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Novosibirsk Region
Locality:
Novosibirsk
Suspected of:
suspected in: "deliberately, out of extremist motives, took part in the activity of a religious association... by participating in religious meetings and meetings of an extremist organization, having conversations... presentations and viewing of training videos"
Court case number:
42002500019000013
Initiated:
May 13, 2020
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-51/2023 (1-737/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Leninskiy District Court of Novosibirsk
Judge:
Olga Kovalenko
Case History
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