[{"body":"Sergey Bagiyan was detained in Moscow and told that he was wanted in connection with a criminal case under an extremist article. The man is taken to the police station and placed in a temporary detention facility for 3 days. Baghiyan's wife is allowed to bring food to Baghiyan.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Bagiyan in Saratov","date":"2024-04-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saratov4/index.html#20240421","regions":["saratov"],"tags":["new-case","282","ivs","house-arrest"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 21, 2024, Moscow security forces detained one of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, Sergey Bagiyan, 50. He was informed that he was a suspect in a criminal case for extremism.\nAccording to Bagiyan\u0026#39;s relatives, law enforcement officers with machine guns came to Sergey\u0026#39;s home in the afternoon. They behaved politely, nevertheless they handcuffed the believer and took him to the police station. Later, Sergey was transported to Saratov and placed in a temporary detention facility.\nOn April 24, the Volzhskiy District Court imposed house arrest for two months on him as a preventive measure.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2024-04-21T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_943a8332cba14e42.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_caffff98386a2f9a.jpg","webp":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_10d4e5329eff2378.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/constitution-upk_hu_543ff2e213e31665.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/250910.html","regions":["moscow","saratov"],"subtitle":"Three Days Later, He Was Placed Under House Arrest","tags":["new-case","282","ivs","house-arrest"],"title":"One of Jehovah's Witnesses Was Detained in Moscow and Taken to Saratov.","type":"news"},{"body":"The verdict against Denis Merkulov, one of Jehovah's Witnesses from Apatity, entered into force on July 18, 2023 by the appeal decision of the Murmansk Regional Court. However, the court reduced the fine – the believer will pay 400,000 rubles instead of 500,000 rubles for the peacefully practicing his faith.\nIn the appeal proceedings, prosecutor Pavel Zhilinkov had sought a tougher sentence, but the judicial panel agreed with the position of the lower court, which had imposed a fine on the believer. Merkulov was found guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization because he peacefully discussed the Bible amongst friends and conducted meetings for worship. The believer considers the court decision a violation of his right to freedom of religion.\nIn the Murmansk Region, six of Jehovah's Witnesses have already received heavy fines simply for not giving up their beliefs and continuing to practice their religion peacefully. Law enforcement officers in this region, as well as throughout Russia, continue the campaign of prosecuting peaceful citizens for their faith, despite condemnation from the global community.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-07-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/07/190941/image_hu_b8fc9816f36f5783.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/07/190941/image_hu_f633c6e0d1a734b.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/07/190941/image_hu_ad5172f97c34e6bb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/07/190941/image_hu_b5e51d8cb8f85f28.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/07/190941.html","regions":["murmansk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282","282.2-1","appeal","fine","mitigation"],"title":"Court of Appeal in Murmansk Upheld the Guilty Verdict but Reduced the Fine for Denis Merkulov","type":"news"},{"body":"Recently it became known that back on August 8, 2022, the Rostov Regional Court toughened the punishment for one of the three believers from Rostov , Arsen Avanesov, who was previously sentenced to 6.5 years in a penal colony, adding another six months to the term.\nIn June 2022, the court of cassation in Krasnodar upheld the verdict against Vilen Avanesov and Aleksandr Parkov, but satisfied the prosecutor’s request regarding Arsen. The believer was again charged with “financing extremist activity”, a charge that the court had previously excluded. Later the case of Arsen Avanesov returned to the stage of appeal, where his sentence was toughened.\nThe judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 7 June 2022 states that “imposition of criminal sanctions for manifestation of religious beliefs amounts to an interference with the exercise of the right to freedom of religion under Article 9 § 1 of the [European] Convention” (264). Despite this, law enforcement officers in the Rostov Region and throughout Russia continue to sentence law-abiding citizens for long terms for their faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-08-08T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/01/190846/image_hu_7a051f41a1a9ea12.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/01/190846/image_hu_c6c59b2f70f80cce.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/01/190846/image_hu_8bdd78114565f2eb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/01/190846/image_hu_17ee621c6620086b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/01/190846.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":"Instead of 6.5 Years — 7 Years in a Penal Colony","tags":["appeal","2-appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282","families"],"title":"A Second Appeal in Rostov-on-Don Toughened the Sentence for Arsen Avanesov.","type":"news"},{"body":"On the morning of April 13, 2021, in Yaroslavl and neighboring Rybinsk, FSB and National Guard officers conducted searches in the homes of believers. The Investigative Committee reports that the raid took place at 31 addresses, but this information is being specified. The 45-year-old father of a young child, Andrey Vyushin, was detained and sent to the temporary detention facility.\nUpdate. Later it became known about the detention of the second believer, 55-year-old Petr Filiznov. On April 15, the court ruled to send both believers to Detention Center No. 1 in Yaroslavl until at least June 11, 2021 (address: 10 Portovaya Naberezhnaya St., Yaroslavl, Yaroslavl Region, Russia, 150001). The Kuznetsov spouses, 38-year-old Alexander and 33-year-old Maria, were also placed in the same pre-trial detention center. The believers were suspected of holding religious meetings, \"including through the Internet, within which [they] promoted prohibited teachings,\" according to the official website of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Yaroslavl Region. A criminal case was initiated under Article 282.2. Once again, security officials call the activities of an extremist organization a peaceful religious practice, during which believers discuss the Bible, pray and sing religious songs. The security officials do not report any real criminal activity of the suspects.\n“Andrey Vyushin has a five-year-old child and a mother with a disability. She cannot walk without assistance. Why are the security forces punishing them? For the fact that the head of the family read the Bible and prayed. And this is happening despite the explanations of the authorities that the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited,” says Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nThis is the first case of criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Yaroslavl region since the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia to liquidate legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-04-14T13:24:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/16/image_hu_26257380054b9d3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/16/image_hu_3a742c95386120d5.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/16/image_hu_28d4fb84fe0cde97.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/16/image_hu_828442b91002b45.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/16.html","regions":["yaroslavl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","new-case","282","minors"],"title":"Mass Searches in the Homes of Jehovah's Witnesses Took Place in the Yaroslavl Region. At Least One Believer Is Detained","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 6, 2018, 46-year-old Sergey Polyakov and his wife Anastasia, who were suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, were sent to the Omsk pre-trial detention center. They were detained during searches conducted on July 4, 2018 in the homes of local residents.\nThe Polyakovs did not get in touch for 2 days, the door to their apartment was found broken open. Simultaneous searches were carried out in at least 4 dwellings of Omsk residents. Starting at 7:00 a.m., the searches continued until 3:00 p.m. and were carried out in houses, on land plots, in outbuildings and in parked cars of citizens. All possible electronic storage media and electronic devices were seized. During the search, the witnesses actively helped law enforcement officers, prompted and even tried to interrogate believers. The case is being conducted by Denis Loginovsky, an investigator of the Azov District Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Omsk Region.\nIt is not yet known under what articles the criminal case was initiated. However, law enforcement officers in different regions of Russia mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, as well as the Presidential Council for Human Rights, have already drawn attention to this problem.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2018-07-06T17:46:39+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/07/360/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352_hu_17a7f6510007a8a6.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/07/360/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/07/360/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352_hu_fa10a11985b59e0e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/07/360/180603_tomsk_vylamyvayut_dver3352_hu_5745fb0cb44e8fa9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/07/360.html","regions":["omsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","families","new-case","282"],"title":"In Omsk, a husband and wife were arrested for their faith, a criminal case was opened","type":"news"},{"body":"A. Sylnik, senior investigator of the Azov Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Omsk Region, initiates a criminal case under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation against Sergey and Anastasia Polyakov.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2018-06-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20180620","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["new-case","282"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A. Sylnik, senior investigator of the Azov Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Omsk Region, initiates a criminal case under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against unidentified persons.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2018-06-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20180620","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["new-case","282"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 10, 18, 19 and 20, 2018, a series of searches were carried out in the homes of citizens suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Bashkiria, the Murmansk Region, the Primorye Territory and the Ivanovo Region. Four citizens were arrested.\nOn April 10, 2018, 8 searches were carried out simultaneously in Ufa . Appeals have been filed against the search order with the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan. One of the citizens, a 32-year-old man, was arrested and is in jail until June 2, 2018.\nOn the evening of April 18, 2018, in the city of Polyarny (Murmansk region), searches were carried out in the homes of local citizens. Two citizens, men 44 years old and 61 years old, who were seen in the police, do not get in touch. Presumably, they were arrested.\nOn April 19, 2018, law enforcement officers invaded one of the dwellings in Vladivostok. A 42-year-old man was arrested. He learned that he would be charged under Article 282. (organization of an extremist organization).\nSince the morning of April 20, 2018, at least three searches in the homes of local residents have been carried out in the city of Shuya (Ivanovo region). One of the citizens, a 33-year-old man, was taken to the police.\nEarlier, in January and February 2018, mass searches took place in Belgorod and Kemerovo. Citizens are suspected of continuing the activities of the organization \"Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\"\nAll searches and arrests were a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban all legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. At the same time, the Russian authorities continue to maintain that this decision does not prohibit the practice of the Jehovah's Witnesses. A Danish citizen who has been in pre-trial detention since May 25, 2017, was taken into custody in Oryol on a similar charge. On July 21, 2017, the Memorial Human Rights Center recognized Dennis Christensen as a political prisoner.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-04-20T15:56:16+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/04/301/depositphotos_18573119_0_0_hu_e4cc14d2169bc51c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/04/301/depositphotos_18573119_0_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/04/301/depositphotos_18573119_0_0_hu_6e8eef7dc4a96af6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/04/301/depositphotos_18573119_0_0_hu_eb738af7a5a4a71f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/04/301.html","regions":["bashkortostan","murmansk","ivanovo","primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","sizo","282"],"title":"In four regions of Russia, citizens who are considered Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested almost simultaneously","type":"news"},{"body":"Respected in the circle of fellow believers, 44-year-old Dane Dennis Christensen was sent to the pre-trial detention center of the city of Orel for 2 months. He is charged with continuing the activities of an organization that was banned for extremism (Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He was arrested on May 25, 2017, during a joint Bible reading conducted by local Jehovah's Witnesses in a building on Zheleznodorozhnaya Street.\nOn the evening of May 25, at 7:30 p.m., the street near the building belonging to one of the believers began to fill with cars and buses with armed masked men - riot policemen. Under the direction of an FSB investigator, the group entered the building and blocked believers who were forbidden to touch phones and tablets. Document checks, searches and interrogations continued until the morning. Searches were conducted in a number of believers' homes.\nOn Friday, May 26, 2017, Judge Svetlana Naumova decided to choose a measure of restraint in the form of detention for 2 months against Dennis Christensen. Dennis's wife, Irina Christensen, as well as lawyers, intend to use all possible legal remedies. The Consulate of the Kingdom of Denmark was notified of the incident.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2017-05-27T09:42:31+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/05/170/dennis_cristensen3385_hu_da9eda5e08e3620e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/05/170/dennis_cristensen3385.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/05/170/dennis_cristensen3385_hu_71a30e5395414a1a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/05/170/dennis_cristensen3385_hu_724006e3888c17a2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/05/170.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sizo","282","search","interrogation"],"title":"One of Jehovah's Witnesses, a Danish citizen, was arrested in the Oryol region for two months ","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator M. Dukhovnev issues a decision to initiate a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (incitement of hatred or enmity committed by an organized group). More than 2 years of preliminary investigation begins.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Stepanov and Sivak in Sergiyev Posad","date":"2013-04-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sergiyev-posad/index.html#20130409","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["new-case","282"],"type":"timeline"}]