[{"body":"The court is reviewing covert operational recordings of meetings for worship held in homes. In one of them, the conversation is about how to share the Bible hope with homeless people. Oleg Postnikov expresses confusion that the prosecutor’s office considers these actions extremist.\nHe also emphasizes that although everyone present at the meeting for worship understood the injustice of the prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, no one spoke offensively or with hostility about the persecutors or the authorities.\n","caseTitle":"The Second Case of Postnikov in Birobidzhan","date":"2026-07-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan22/index.html#20260715","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["retrial","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The court is questioning Ildar Bagautdinov, the key witness for the prosecution. According to him, in December 2022 he voluntarily entered into an agreement with FSB officers to gather information about Jehovah's Witnesses. For 2 years, he secretly made audio recordings of conversations on Bible topics. Of the defendants, he knows only two — Smolnikov and Repin.\nBagautdinov believes that practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not permitted in Russia. In his view, their \"danger\" lies in the fact that \"they have their own customs, their own Bible, their own ideas.\" The judge asks directly: \"What is so bad about this faith? They just believe.\" The witness has difficulty answering.\nWhen asked about the actions of the believer, the informant consistently replies that he never heard any extremist statements, calls for violence, pressure, or threats. Describing Igor, he says: \"He is calm, willing to help, careful with his words; only positive traits, I have not noticed anything bad.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Repin and Others in Ozersk","date":"2026-07-13T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ozersk/index.html#20260713","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["first-instance","interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The court is reviewing audio recordings of surveillance in the home of Vitaliy and Nadezhda Syrykh. In addition to ordinary household conversations, prayers, and discussions of the Bible, the recordings include meetings for worship from 2020. In one of them, there is a call to follow the authorities' recommendations during the pandemic.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Syrykhs in Kaltan","date":"2026-05-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kaltan/index.html#20260518","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Again FSB officer Valentin Karpov does not appear for interrogation. The judge proposes to summon him again.\nThe prosecutor reads out case materials selectively from all volumes. The defense points out that the search protocols contain inaccuracies. For example, a souvenir magnet from the refrigerator and a postcard seized from the believer are called religious literature in the protocol. A book about Jesus Christ, found in the possession of an Orthodox woman (given to her 20 years ago), later appears as having been seized from where Irina's husband is under house arrest.\nThe prosecutor draws attention to the positive character references of Irina Shishkina from her place of work and from her neighbors, as well as to awards she received.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shishkina in Prokopyevsk","date":"2026-05-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopyevsk5/index.html#20260505","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A witness for the prosecution, FSB operative Valentin Karpov, does not appear for questioning. The prosecutor proposes to read out his testimony, the lawyer objects and asks to ensure the appearance of the witness at the next hearing. The court grants the petition.\nThe prosecutor reads out at least 24 FSB memoranda certificates from the first volume of the case. The total volume of documents is more than 200 pages.\nThe defense notes that in many cases the information is not true.\nFor example, in one of the memoranda, communication with visiting friends is described as a religious meeting. In several documents, Irina is described as an active participant in the video conference, who is at home, but in fact she was at work at that time, which is confirmed by the timesheet. Irina is also credited with the intention to call the convicted Andrey Vlasov, since only the name \"Andrey\" appears in the conversation. According to the believer, it was about her son, whose name is also Andrey.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shishkina in Prokopyevsk","date":"2026-04-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopyevsk5/index.html#20260422","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Audio and video recordings of covert surveillance of Nikolai Prokhorov are played. At them, the believer, together with friends, sings songs, says prayers, and discusses biblical topics.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Prokhorov in Kirsanov","date":"2026-04-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kirsanov2/index.html#20260417","regions":["tambov"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 13, 2026, in Nizhny Novgorod, law enforcement officers conducted searches at the homes of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses and interrogated four women. One of them is unable to walk on her own, and her daughter had to take her to the Investigative Committee in a wheelchair. During the interrogation, the elderly woman learned that she had been under surveillance since 2023.\nThe investigative actions were carried out as part of a criminal case initiated on February 9, 2026, against Lidiya Starostina, a 70‑year‑old believer. During the searches, electronic devices were seized, and in one instance even a Wi‑Fi router. The women were interrogated at the Investigative Committee office and then released.\nIn the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 25 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already faced criminal prosecution, including 4 married couples.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2026-02-13T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"svg":"/img/news/police.svg"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/02/231423.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":"Criminal Case Initiated","tags":["search","interrogation","elderly","disability","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Searches and Interrogations of Female Believers in Nizhny Novgorod.","type":"news"},{"body":"Senior Investigator of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Aleksandr Busarov, initiated the criminal prosecution of a wheelchair user — 86-year-old Larisa Tumanova. The reason for initiating the case for participating in the activity of an extremist organization was her telephone conversations, which have been monitored since 2023.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tumanova in Nizhniy Novgorod","date":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod13/index.html#20260209","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance","elderly","disability"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Karelia Viktor Petrov is conducting a search of a woman who is a witness in the Timofeev case. After the search, the woman is interrogated.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Timofeyev in Petrozavodsk","date":"2025-02-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/petrozavodsk2/index.html#20250212","regions":["karelia"],"tags":["search","interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator for especially important cases, Colonel of Justice Aleksandr Chepenko attracts Andrey Shurygin as an accused.\nThe accusation was based on hidden video and audio recordings of worship services, during which, according to the investigation, Shurygin, together with others, read and discussed the Bible. According to the investigator, it is unlawfully to participate in such events, because \"the persons conducting the conversation belong to the denomination of Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shurygin in Chelyabinsk","date":"2024-04-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk10/index.html#20240417","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The prosecution is interrogating the brother of Ekaterina Menkova. He describes his sister as a kind, sympathetic and literate person who graduated from the institute with honors. The second witness reports that he does not know any of the defendants.\nThen the court proceeds to the study of material evidence - disks with video recordings made secretly in Tutinova's room. In the recordings, the defendant is talking via video conferencing with two women on religious and domestic topics.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Tutinova and Others in Elista","date":"2024-04-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/elista/index.html#20240409","regions":["kalmykia"],"tags":["first-instance","interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On April 8, 2024, a panel of judges of the Oryol Regional Court, chaired by Judge Yuliya Orlovskaya, approved six years in prison for the faith of Piskarev, Melnik and Putintsev. Taking into account the 3 years and 4 months spent in pre-trial detention before the verdict came into force, they may be released in April 2025.\nThe accusation of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in it was based on audio recordings of a biblical speech that Piskarev rehearsed aloud in his apartment. As a result, on October 13, 2023, the judge of the Sovetskiy District Court of the city of Oryol, Natalya Tishkova, found the three believers guilty.\nPensioner Vladimir Piskarev is experiencing particular difficulties in prison—he had a stroke in the pre-trial detention center and hypertensive crises were recorded twice. In his last plea, he emphasized: \u0026quot;All the accusations that are in the indictment do not correspond to reality, as evidenced by the facts from the criminal case, from the examinations, as well as from the words of prosecution witnesses.\u0026quot; Among other things, it was established that his religion was not prohibited by law, he did not incite religious hatred and never promoted the superiority of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\nEight Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted in the Oryol Region, including Dennis Christensen, the first Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witness in modern Russia who ended up behind bars only because of his faith.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-04-08T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2_hu_8e65ea830d23305d.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2.jpg","webp":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2_hu_bd25408061f40e20.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/referee%27s%20hammer2_hu_1dd92405d6c2c02a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/04/101552.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":"They Will Remain Behind Bars","tags":["appeal","282.2-1","282.2-2","liberty-deprivation","rosfinmonitoring","elderly","hidden-surveillance","health-risk"],"title":"The Verdict Against Three Believers in Oryol Came Into Force After an Appeal.","type":"news"},{"body":"The Fedorovs, temporarily residing in Petrozavodsk, notice surveillance, and find a listening device in the apartment.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Fedorov in Petrozavodsk","date":"2024-04-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/petrozavodsk3/index.html#20240401","regions":["karelia"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 22, 2024, Anastasiya Fedorova, judge of the Central District Court of Tolyatti, gave Yelena Yurenkova, 53, a 2-year suspended sentence. For reading and discussing the Bible, she was found guilty of the activity of an extremist organization.\nIn her final statement before the court, Yelena stated: \u0026quot;Today, Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses do not lose their joy when they are persecuted for Jesus\u0026#39; name. For me, as for the ministers of old, suffering in itself is not a cause for joy. But if I remain faithful to God during trials, he will help me endure and gain his approval. This is my hope, the foundation of my faith, for which I am being judged today.\u0026quot;\nThe believer and her husband surrounded by friends near the court building The prosecution of Yelena Yurenkova began in May 2023, when the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against her. The basis for this were hidden video recordings of meetings for worship, which were made over 1.5 years. After the search and interrogation, the believer was made to sign a recognizance agreement. In August of the same year, court hearings began, in which a secret witness participated.\nThe prosecutor requested a sentence of 4 years in a penal colony and 1 year restriction of freedom for Yurenkova. Yelena does not agree with the court\u0026#39;s decision and can appeal to higher courts. There are no victims, no damage caused and no proven facts of extremist activity in the case.\nIn Tolyatti, 6 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, including 4 women, have already been prosecuted.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_b0e49e1033f0c2d2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_e45c97f646026524.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_d8d1611cb5b28b06.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/251357/image_hu_6a4126f85e17d743.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/251357.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","282.2-2","secret-witness","hidden-surveillance","suspended"],"title":"Court in Tolyatti Gave Yelena Yurenkova a 2-Year Suspended Sentenced for Her Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 4, 2024, Irina Onuchina, judge of the Central District Court of the city of Tolyatti, found Yelena Kozhevnikova guilty of extremism and gave her a 2-year suspended sentence for \u0026quot;actively participating in the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses through video conferencing.\u0026quot;\nThe prosecutor had requested 4 years of imprisonment for the believer.\nRegarding the charges, Kozhevnikova stated that she does not pose any public danger, as she respects people of any nationality and religion as well as the laws of the state. \u0026quot;This what the Bible teaches, which for me is the most important law,\u0026quot; the believer highlighted. \u0026quot;I do not think that talking about God and Bible principles in any way violates the constitutional order or threatens state security.\u0026quot;\nThe criminal prosecution of Yelena began in May 2023, following searches that took place simultaneously at several addresses of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Tolyatti. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case against the believer, and she was placed under a recognizance agreement. Already within 2 months, the case went to court. The charge was based on the testimony of a secret witness and hidden video recordings of meetings for worship.\nIn the Samara Region, 10 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses have already been prosecuted, one of whom was sentenced to 8 years in prison for their faith, and four more to 7 years in a penal colony.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-03-04T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_e9e60e4296e97e36.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_18f0188bbd25678f.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_3a84e8e12ea4a8a8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/03/050830/image_hu_40b484186116e4a9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/03/050830.html","regions":["samara"],"subtitle":"The Court Gave a Suspended Sentence to 62-year-old Yelena Kozhevnikova","tags":["282.2-2","sentence","hidden-surveillance","suspended"],"title":"Another Sentence for Faith in Tolyatti.","type":"news"},{"body":"The court is interrogating the daughter of Svetlana Vyrezkova. She says she thinks her mom is \"the kindest person.\" When asked about her choice of religion and treatment, she replies: \"My mother always raised me that I had the right to choose. And now I make the decisions that I think are right.\"\nAfter the interrogation, the prosecutor begins to read out materials containing a transcript of wiretapping - conversations of believers on everyday topics (culinary recipes, pandemic, self-isolation, etc.).\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Reshetnikov and Others in Gryazi","date":"2024-02-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gryazi/index.html#20240201","regions":["lipetsk"],"tags":["first-instance","interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On January 29, 2024, Anton Mokin, judge of the Shuya City Court of the Ivanovo Region, sentenced Aleksey Arkhipov, Svetlana Ryzhkova, Svetlana Shishina, and the couple Dmitriy and Yelena Mikhaylov to large fines for their faith in Jehovah God.\nAleksey Arkhipov was fined 380,000, Svetlana Shishina 400,000, Svetlana Ryzhkova 480,000, Yelena Mikhaylova 560,000, and her husband Dmitriy Mikhaylov 950,000 rubles. The prosecution requested a fine of 1,200,000 rubles for Mikhaylov, taking into account the time of detention; for Mikhaylova and Ryzhkova — 600,000 rubles; for Shishina and Arkhipov — 400,000 rubles. The believers insist on their innocence and have the right to appeal.\n\u0026quot;Actually, I am accused of believing in God,\u0026quot; commented Dmitriy Mikhaylov on the accusation. \u0026quot;I am charged with discussing religious topics with my friends.\u0026quot; He also emphasized that the linguistic forensic expert study did not reveal signs of extremism in the materials examined. His wife Yelena said: \u0026quot;The charges against me are serious, but there is no concrete evidence.\u0026quot;\nSvetlana Shishina, a mother of two, said: \u0026quot;I have always respected people of different religious denominations, and I teach my children to do the same.\u0026quot; \u0026quot;The charges against me are far-fetched, unfounded and not lawful,\u0026quot; said Svetlana Ryzhkova. Aleksey Arkhipov, in turn, emphasized: \u0026quot;I have never plotted or intended to commit any illegal actions against the authorities, nevermind undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and state security, as this contradicts my beliefs as a Christian and a God-fearing person.\u0026quot;\nCriminal prosecution of the believers began in 2018; their homes were searched. Later it turned out, that prior to that, a hidden video camera had been installed at least at one of the addresses, and one person, on the instructions of the special forces, feigned interest in the Bible. After his arrest, Dmitriy Mikhaylov spent 6 months in a pretrial detention center. His wife, together with other women whose husbands were imprisoned for their faith in God, sent an open letter to the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. In response to this letter, a request was sent to the General Prosecutor\u0026#39;s Office to check the legality and validity of the criminal prosecution of citizens professing the religion of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. However, the criminal prosecution did not stop. The case was returned twice to the investigator for revision and after 4 years it was re-submitted to the court, which considered the case for 1.5 years.\nOn April 26, 2019, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion on Dmitriy Mikhaylov\u0026#39;s complaint, calling on the Russian authorities to stop his criminal prosecution and grant him the right to compensation and reparation.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2024-01-29T16:05:39+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_994e19bb312b86b9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_56be0241ab7ca51e.jpg","webp":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_6984153ca51a1a68.webp","webp2x":"/news/2024/01/291605/image_hu_4baf6ff7f4f7804d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2024/01/291605.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"subtitle":"They Must Pay the State From 380 to 950 Thousand Rubles","tags":["282.2-1","282.2-2","282.3-1","sentence","secret-witness","hidden-surveillance","fine","minors","elderly","families"],"title":"Court in Shuya Fined 5 Jehovah's Witnesses for Reading the Bible Together.","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 22, 2023, the trial of three Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Moscow was completed. For singing religious songs and praying, Sergey Khomyakov, judge of the Cheremushkinsky District Court, sentenced the believers to a penal colony: Aleksandr Rumyantsev to 7.5, Sean Pike to 7, and Eduard Sviridov to 6.5 years.\nAt the end of the summer of 2021, a series of searches took place in the homes of believers in Moscow, as a result of which three ended up in a pretrial detention center. The investigation of the criminal case was carried out over 15 months by an investigator of the Directorate for the Yugo-Zapadny District of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. Then the case was considered in court for 13 months. As a result, by the time of the verdict, the believers had spent 2 years and 4 months in pretrial detention.\nEduard Sviridov, 59, in whose house meetings for worship were secretly recorded, denied the accusation of extremism and mentioned that the investigation did not provide full transcripts of these meetings. In court, he said: \u0026quot;It was not clear what was said at these meetings. Phrases taken out of context, distortions, loose paraphrase \u0026ndash; that\u0026#39;s what is presented in place of transcripts.\u0026quot; He related what they learned at meetings for worship: \u0026quot;To show love to others, to maintain good relationships, to settle differences, to treat everyone without prejudice, to show hospitality.\u0026quot;\nSean Pike, 52, father of two minor daughters, said: \u0026quot;And there can be no talk of hatred toward people or a feeling superior to anyone. This is contrary to kindness and goodness. This would not be an expression of love for God and people.This is not the Christian way. It\u0026#39;s unthinkable for me!\u0026quot;\nAleksandr Rumyantsev, 46, who takes care of his mother, who is disabled, also emphasized: \u0026quot;I am sure that my religious beliefs benefit society and the state, because I live in harmony with the words: \u0026#39;Let each one keep seeking, not his own advantage, but that of the other person.\u0026#39;\u0026quot;\nThe prosecutor deemed peaceful religious practice to be organizing the activity of an extremist organization and requested that each of the defendants be sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony. They have the right to appeal the verdict.\nIn Moscow, 9 more Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses aged 45 to 70 have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for their faith.\nA report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance expressed concern that \u0026quot;anti-extremist legislation [of the Russian Federation] is being used against certain religious minorities, in particular against Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses.\u0026quot;\n","category":"verdict","date":"2023-12-22T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/250907/image_hu_b6591c909e806b53.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/250907/image_hu_526aebef43b6bbc6.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/250907/image_hu_d68fa2469e26227.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/250907/image_hu_1d3c6054c8638601.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/250907.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","minors","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Court in Moscow Handed Down a Harsh Sentence to Three of Jehovah's Witnesses — From 6.5 to 7.5 Years in Penal Colonies for Their Faith","type":"news"},{"body":"Six sessions in a row — 2, 7, 14, 21 November, 5 and 12 December — the court watches video recordings from the case materials.\nThe prosecutor motions to stop watching the worship meetings and to begin questioning prosecution witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Derendyaev and Others in Izhevsk","date":"2022-12-12T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/izhevsk/index.html#20221212","regions":["udmurtia"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 21, 2022, Ravil Nusratov, judge of the Asha City Court of the Chelyabinsk Region, found Andrey Perminov, 50, who has been a wheelchair user from his youth, guilty of extremism because of his religion and gave him a 6 years' suspended sentence.\nAndrey Perminov is severely disabled. The criminal prosecution of the believer began in the summer of 2021, when investigator Yevgeniy Dolgaev opened a criminal case against him, and a series of searches took place in the Chelyabinsk Region in the homes of those whom the investigation considered to be Jehovah's Witnesses. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk Region investigated the case for almost a year, after which in May 2022 it was submitted to the Ashinsky City Court. During the court hearings, it turned out that a listening device had been installed in the Perminovs' apartment. However, neither the recordings from it nor the witnesses for the prosecution could prove a violation of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but only confirmed that the accused is an ordinary believer.\nExpressing his opinion of the accusation, the believer said: “All the materials of the criminal case and the evidence presented by the prosecution essentially boil down to the fact that I was a believer and held services with fellow believers. In fact, this is discrimination based on religious affiliation.”\nThe verdict, which corresponded with the punishment requested by the prosecutor for Perminov, has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists on his complete innocence.\nIn the Chelyabinsk Region, 11 more Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to criminal prosecution for their faith, including 4 women. Two elderly women, Lyudmila Salikova and Valentina Suvorova, received suspended sentences.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses, in which it presented the result of analysis of all the logical and legal errors grossly committed by Russian courts, and came to the unequivocal conclusion that their persecution in Russia is illegal.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-11-21T14:41:46+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/211441/image_hu_574ac47a7a161f4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/211441/image_hu_7477089bc4dc103.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/211441/image_hu_b84ab657f6c8dc9a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/211441/image_hu_a1534638b0a027a0.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/211441.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":"severely disabled person sentenced to 6 years' probation for believing in Jehovah God","tags":["282.2-1","disability","sentence","suspended","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"The court in the Chelyabinsk Region issued a guilty verdict against Andrey Perminov;","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 7, 2022, Judge Aleksey Bezrukov of the Rubtsovsk City Court of the Altai Territory decided that reading and discussing the Bible was extremism, found Andrey Danielyan guilty and sentenced him to 6 years of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. The believer was taken into custody in the courtroom.\nJoint worship of God with other believers was interpreted by the prosecution as illegal activity with criminal intent. Although there is not a single victim in the case, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Danielyan to 7 years in prison. The judgment has not entered into force and can be appealed. The believer insists that he is completely innocent.\nIn May 2021, law enforcement officers conducted a special operation in the Altai Territory, code-named “Armageddon”. At 6 a.m., FSB officers entered Andrey Danielyan's apartment, opening the door with their own key. It turned out that the believer's phone was tapped, and information from his personal computer had been accessed. After the search, Andrey and his wife were interrogated at the investigative department. Two days earlier, a criminal case was initiated against Danielyan on the charge of participating in the activities of an extremist organization. Later, investigator Zavorin reclassified the charge to Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - organizing the activities of an extremist organization. The believer spent almost a year and a half under a recognizance agreement.\nThe case went to trial after just over a year of investigation. After five sessions, the court entered the stage of closing arguments. Danielyan pointed out numerous examples of falsifications, inaccuracies, and bias against Jehovah's Witnesses; for example, one of the experts, Mirra Kashaeva, an assistant professor at Altai State University, voiced erroneous stereotypes about Jehovah's Witnesses. The believer was perplexed: “Based on the indictment, one could conclude that it is forbidden to preach, to pray, to discuss spiritual topics and to meet together. Can all this really constitute a crime? And what then are we allowed to do under Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation? It begs the question, how then are believers supposed to worship God?” The court and the investigation did not see the difference between a group of ordinary believers (a religious group), which does not need registration, and a legal entity that no longer exists in Russia. As a result, five men who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses have already been subjected to criminal prosecution in the Altai Territory. In addition to Danielyan, Pavel Kazadaev's case is in court, and the other men are under investigation.\nOn October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-11-07T13:30:32+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/071330/image_hu_638fafee5ae31aae.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/071330/image_hu_c17166377d7eff9b.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/071330/image_hu_5a6c6677a206c5d9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/071330/image_hu_dae330f19dc4b6f5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/071330.html","regions":["altaisky"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["282.2-1","sentence","liberty-deprivation","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Court in Rubtsovsk Sent 53-year-old Andrey Danielyan to a Penal Colony for 6 Years for Having Bible Discussions","type":"news"},{"body":"The court listens to recordings of telephone conversations of believers. Next, those present watch a video of the service.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Derendyaev and Others in Izhevsk","date":"2022-09-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/izhevsk/index.html#20220905","regions":["udmurtia"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On August 8, 2022, the judge of the Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow, Sergey Bazarov, found Yuriy Temirbulatov and Aleksandr Serebryakov guilty of organizing the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced them to 6.5 years suspended sentence. The believers were released in the courtroom after a year and a half in jail.\nUpdate. According to updated data, Serebryakov and Temirbulatov were sentenced to 6 years probation. The prosecution of Serebryakov and Temirbulatov was preceded by surveillance and hidden video recording in 2019. Investigator of the Investigative Committee for the Northern Administrative District of Moscow of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Mariya Rasskazova opened a criminal case on February 10, 2021. On the same day, armed officers from several law enforcement agencies broke into 16 homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow and the region.\nThe investigation lasted for almost a year, after which, on January 26, 2022, the case was transferred to the Golovinskiy District Court of Moscow. Although during the six months of hearings in court it was only proved that Temirbulatov and Serebryakov were Jehovah's Witnesses, the prosecutor asked that they be sentenced to 6.5 years of actual imprisonment. Although the court sentenced them to suspended sentences, believers consider the sentence unjust and can appeal against it.\n“The investigation has no evidence that I committed extremist actions,” said Yuriy Temirbulatov, addressing the court. “The investigation and the state prosecution are trying to pass off the exercise of my right to freedom of religion, which is also expressed in the form of worship, as a prohibited activity.”\nDuring the time in custody, believers were repeatedly transferred between different pre-trial detention centers in Moscow. Yuriy Temirbulatov remained under arrest despite numerous diseases of internal organs, a serious surgical operation during his imprisonment, an oncological disease that developed in the same period, the guarantee of human rights activist Andrei Babushkin and the presence of four dependents. Aleksandr Serebryakov had a hard time covid. His wife said: “I didn’t know how he feels, what he needs, who takes care of him, how they treat him . . . Only when he started to recover, I found out that Alek was on the verge of death.” During the investigation, Aleksandr Serebryakov was never granted a meeting with his wife, they communicated only through letters.\nSpeaking before the court with the last word, Aleksandr Serebryakov said: “For several years now, a mass campaign has been going on to denigrate peaceful citizens, to sow hatred and enmity towards Jehovah's Witnesses. There were cases of vandalism, beatings, torture, arson of houses and liturgical buildings . . . We are the only victims here. A year and a half behind bars, wives all this time without husbands, children without a father. All this resulted in stress, pain, tears, illness. I wonder who needs all this? Who got better?”\nIn Moscow, 2 more criminal cases against 8 believers are in court. In total, 13 Jehovah's Witnesses living in this region fell under criminal prosecution.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-08-08T17:15:47+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/08/081715/image_hu_ec82a4749ff4ce0c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/08/081715/image_hu_9af3bca59e3b419.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/08/081715/image_hu_17e670da830413b9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/08/081715/image_hu_c3f692ebe8e7e943.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/08/081715.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","sentence","hidden-surveillance","282.2-1","health-risk"],"title":"Court Sentenced Two Jehovah's Witnesses from Moscow to 6 Years of Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"Judge Vladimir Shibanov authorizes the conduct of operational-search measures in relation to Vladlena Kukavitsa: wiretapping of telephone conversations, control of mail and other messages.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Kukavitsa in Birobidzhan","date":"2022-06-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan20/index.html#20220628","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"With regard to the civilians of Novocherkassk - Garegin Khachaturyan and Gevorg Yeritsyan - operational-search measures are underway.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yeritsyan and Others in Novocherkassk","date":"2022-06-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novocherkassk/index.html#20220601","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On May 12, 2022, the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court upheld the verdict against Victoriya Verkhoturova from Nizhny Novgorod. A panel of judges chaired by Nikolay Kozlov found the believer guilty of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, interpreting this as extremism.\nIn November 2021, a lower court sentenced Verkhoturova to 4 years suspended for participation in the activities of a banned organization. The verdict has entered into force. The believer still does not plead guilty to extremism and has the right to appeal the verdict on cassation.\nIn the summer of 2019, the home of Victoriya and her husband Sergey was searched, during which the believers were subjected to psychological pressure. Phones were tapped in the family for a long time and covert video filming was carried out. For 1 year and 10 months, Victoriya was under house arrest and proper behavior.\nThe case featured a secret witness of \"Sidorov\" and a witness for the prosecution, who \"never heard that Viktoriya Verkhoturova involved anyone in a banned organization\", and also \"never saw her on stage with any appeals.\" The other prosecution witness never met Victoriya in person.\nIn total, 16 people in the Nizhny Novgorod region are subjected to criminal prosecution for believing in Jehovah God. Victoriya's husband Sergey Verkhoturov received 6 years of suspended sentence, three more were given 3 years suspended.\nAccording to the statement of the Government of the Russian Federation, “the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2017 and the appeal ruling of the Board of Appeal of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 17, 2017 do not provide an assessment of the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to profess individually the above religion”. On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the religious services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint performance of rites and ceremonies, in themselves do not constitute a crime under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-05-12T13:50:48+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_4ce933f8e296dec7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_5da027ee770c4e55.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_12dbd243d7c5b427.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/05/131350/image_hu_4067e316f1a4da39.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/05/131350.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","families","282.2-2","suspended","hidden-surveillance","secret-witness"],"title":"A Nizhny Novgorod Appeal Upheld Victoriya Verkhoturova's Four-Year Suspended Sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On April 7, 2022, the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court did not satisfy the appeal against the sentence of Jehovah's Witness Anton Ostapenko and upheld the sentence of the court of first instance—6 years and 3 months of suspended imprisonment with a probationary period of 4 years and 1.5 years of additional restrictions.\nThe verdict has entered into force, but Ostapenko considers the charge of organizing the activities of an extremist organization far-fetched and can use the right to appeal the court's decision in cassation.\nThe 31-year-old believer has never been brought to administrative or criminal liability before. He takes care of his disabled mother. Ostapenko's colleagues at Berezovskaya regional power station know him as a decent person and a responsible worker.\nThe criminal prosecution of Anton Ostapenko began in April 2019, when mass searches were carried out in the town of Sharypovo in the apartments of citizens suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Ostapenko spent six months in a pre-trial detention center, where, according to him, pressure was put on him. Threats were also made against his family. Due to prolonged stress, the believer's health deteriorated.\nOstapenko's accusation was based on his conversations about the Bible, recorded on a hidden video camera. In the indictment, the believer is charged with the fact that he \"carried out an active activity in holding meetings, expressed in public speaking, discussion of biblical scriptures, prayers.\" Such actions are a common practice for Jehovah's Witnesses around the world.\nThe persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia continues despite the clarification of the Plenum of the Russian Supreme Court that liturgical meetings and conversations about the Bible cannot in themselves be considered extremism. Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev additionally stressed on February 9, 2022: “Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in exercising the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through the performance of religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-04-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/04/111426/image_hu_8e9789d90ab49dc5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/04/111426/image_hu_8a79a7bf96667c4b.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/04/111426/image_hu_6dc19496c6013d7f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/04/111426/image_hu_baa0b5ad30afb7ea.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/04/111426.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","appeal","282.2-1","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Krasnoyarsk Regional Court Confirmed Anton Ostapenko's Sentence: a Six-Year Suspended Sentence for Believing in Jehovah God","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 18, 2022, the Volgograd Regional Court upheld the conviction of Valeriy Rogozin, Igor Egozaryan, Denis Peresunko and Sergey Melnik. They will get jailed for their faith in Jehovah God.\nIn September 2021, the court of first instance sentenced Rogozin to 6 years and 5 months in a penal colony, Peresunko to 6 years and 3 months, and Melnik and Egozaryan to 6 years in a penal colony. The verdict has entered into force, but believers can appeal it in cassation.\nWhen the criminal prosecution began, the wife of Denis Peresunko died of COVID-19, and the believer himself was placed in a pre-trial detention center for 5 months. He is on disability and the resulting stress has exacerbated his condition. A long stay in the pre-trial detention center also seriously undermined the health of Valeriy Rogozin. Egozaryan and Melnik are raising their underage sons.\nIn 2019, law enforcement officers arrested four believers and accused them of organizing extremist activities, and later two of them — Peresunko and Rogozin — also of financing it. At the same time, recordings of religious meetings of Volgograd Jehovah's Witnesses, at which they discuss Bibles, sing songs and pray to God, were used as material evidence of their “guilt.”\nIn court, the prosecution interrogated classified witnesses. One of them kept a covert record of worship and stated that the unlawful activities of the defendants consisted in the fact that they \"obey God.\" Another secret witness said that he had never heard threats, calls for violence or the overthrowing of power from the defendants. Some witnesses openly stated that their testimony had been falsified by the investigator.\nThe scheme, according to which Volgograd residents were convicted, is used by law enforcement agencies throughout Russia against peaceful believers. As in the Rogozin case, the indictments mention “propaganda of the cult of religious superiority of the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses” as evidence of extremism. However, human rights activists in Russia and abroad consider this approach to be erroneous and unconstitutional. In particular, back in 2017, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, a member of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society and human rights, noted with concern: “What believer does not consider his faith to be true? Jehovah's Witnesses is a church that has branches in many countries. They everywhere freely profess their faith and nowhere are they considered extremists. And we have Jehovah's Witnesses, as sincerely believing people, very exemplary citizens: hard-working, honestly treating their families, their children.”\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-03-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/03/210919/image_hu_6d28dbf2de06dac.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/03/210919/image_hu_db91ef1e7ce556ab.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/03/210919/image_hu_e5116b508ffc0d2d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/03/210919/image_hu_37f94eaf12c37cfe.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/210919.html","regions":["volgograd"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["appeal","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","282.3-1","disability","minors","health-risk","fabrications","secret-witness","hidden-surveillance","elderly"],"title":"An Appeal in Volgograd Upholds the Sentence of Four Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On the morning of March 18, 2022, searches were carried out in Kazan in two families of Jehovah's Witnesses. A criminal case was opened against 41-year-old Aleksey Gerasimov for his faith, he was placed under a recognizance agreement.\nAt 6:00 a.m., law enforcement officers invaded the homes of civilians. Electronic devices were confiscated from a large family with four children. The head of the family was interrogated for about 4 hours and then released.\nDuring searches, the Gerasimovs, who live with their mother, 71, were seized laptops, flash drives, bank cards, and a foreign passport by the security forces. On the same day, Aleksey Gerasimov was interrogated twice: first at the Center for Combating Extremism, and then at the local department of the Investigative Committee. Two more members of the believer's family were also interrogated.\nGerasimov was informed that on March 10, 2022, a criminal case was opened against him on suspicion of organizing and participating in extremist activities. The case file contains a hidden recording of a worship service, which, according to investigators, was attended by the suspect.\nAfter interrogations, investigator Airat Giniyatullin released the believer under recognizance agreement, which gives Gerasimov the opportunity to continue working and provide for his family.\nA few days before these events, another Jehovah's Witness from Kazan, Sergey Gromov, was detained at Moscow's Vnukovo airport. Whether these events are related is still unknown.\nThe news is being supplemented.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-03-18T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/police_hu_c2b408d29a0866a9.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/police_hu_77177c4f3bb7b17b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/police_hu_38a613f39b8476.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/police_hu_7739329aeb3bcc37.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/221533.html","regions":["tatarstan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","recognizance-agreement","new-case","282.2-1","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"At Least Two More Searches Were Carried Out in Kazan on Families of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Believer Is Under a Recognizance Agreement","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 15, 2022, spouses Sergey and Yelena Gromov, Jehovah's Witnesses from Kazan, were detained at Moscow's Vnukovo airport. The 52-year-old believer was taken into custody, his wife was able to get home. The next day, their apartment was searched.\nThe search took place in the presence of Gromov's wife and daughter. They assume that listening devices were installed in the apartment. It is not known whether a criminal case has been opened, against whom and which body is investigating it. It is expected that Gromov will be transported under escort from Moscow to Kazan.\nThe courts of Tatarstan are currently hearing another 4 criminal cases against 11 believers, one of them is at the appeal stage.\nThe news is being supplemented.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-03-15T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_4c19bccc616a0461.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_e7ed3c04c528ed3b.jpg","webp":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_e58593e77498609.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/handcuffs_hu_3097a2541128b86e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/03/171629.html","regions":["tatarstan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","hidden-surveillance","ivs"],"title":"One of Jehovah's Witnesses Was Detained in Moscow. His Apartment in Kazan Was Searched","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 3, 2022, Dmitriy Babushkin, a judge of the Ussuriysky District Court of the Primorsky Territory, found Sergey Melnikov guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization and sentenced him to 3 years suspended. The believer can appeal the verdict.\nOn June 5, 2019, Sergey Melnikov was detained in his own car while talking with Konstantin Belousov, who, as it turned out later, collaborated with the FSB. He asked Melnikov questions about the Bible, and recorded conversations on audio. According to investigators, this conversation and the fact that Melnikov, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, continued to attend religious meetings of believers, was \"a continuation of the illegal activities of a banned religious organization\" and falls under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Later, a search was conducted in Sergey's house.\nEven at the investigation stage, the prosecutor's office returned materials for further investigation due to violations. But even after the case went to court, there were no victims, as well as no facts of causing damage to the individual, society or the state. Nevertheless, the prosecutor asked to sentence the believer to 4 years suspended.\nSpeaking in court , Melnikov pleaded not guilty to extremism and stressed that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, for more than 2 years, Sergey has been under criminal prosecution simply for his religion. During this time, he spent 122 days in a pre-trial detention center, then 145 days under house arrest, and since February last year he has been under house arrest.\nThe judge sentenced the believer to 3 years probation with a probation period of 2 years, as well as 8 months of restriction of freedom.\nIn Primorsky Territory, 39 people have already been prosecuted for their faith. 6 of them received sentences: 5 received a suspended sentence and 1 was acquitted.\nThe world community strongly condemns the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-02-03T14:12:00+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_c6b03bd847bcea59.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_ff38133b09d81dd2.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_e6691e9840197f3f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/031411/image_hu_a8e93c360cce8df9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/031411.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["suspended","sentence","hidden-surveillance","282.2-2"],"title":"Ussuriysk-Based Sergey Melnikov Sentenced to Three Years of Probation for Adhering to Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 2, 2022, Mariya Kunik, judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnoyarsk, found 64-year-old Anatoliy Gorbunov guilty of extremism and sentenced him to 6 years in a penal colony. The believer is taken into custody.\nIn Soviet times, Anatoliy Gorbunov's father and grandfather were declared \"enemies of the people\" and exiled to Siberia. In 1993 they were rehabilitated. Now Anatoliy was subjected to groundless repressions for his beliefs. In November 2018, he was searched, accompanied by pressure and threats. 17 months later, a criminal case was opened against Gorbunov. According to investigators, the believer organized discussions with fellow believers about the Christian way of life. This allegedly was the organization of the activities of a banned religious organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia).\nThe court hearings continued for more than a year. In anticipation of the verdict, the believer spent more than 13 months on bail.\nDuring the hearings in court, not a single fact was presented that would prove Gorbunov's guilt in real crimes. Among the materials of the case are 7 discs with records of religious meetings and Bible discussions. No calls for violence, inciting hatred or other illegal actions were recorded on them. The secret witness “Salov”, whose testimony, according to the prosecution, was supposed to prove the guilt of the defendant, admitted that he saw Anatoliy only once and did not hear anything extremist from him. There are no victims in the case. Despite this, the prosecutor asked to send Anatoliy to a colony for 8 years.\nThe believer insists on his complete innocence. In court, Anatoliy drew attention to the fact that the Supreme Court did not prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses from practicing their faith, this right is enshrined in the Russian Constitution.\nIn the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 25 Jehovah's Witnesses have already been prosecuted. Five of them were sentenced to various punishments: 2 were sentenced to 6 years in prison, 1 was fined, and 2 received suspended sentences.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2022-02-02T11:11:11+02:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/02/021055/image_hu_57b794b159f7e238.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/02/021055/image_hu_810234fb16bcf559.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/02/021055/image_hu_9ba1c7e3cf5ef951.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/02/021055/image_hu_95d72bb80eb7264d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/02/021055.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["liberty-deprivation","sentence","elderly","282.2-1","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Krasnoyarsk Court Sentenced Anatoliy Gorbunov to a Six-Year Prison Term for Discussing the Bible With Fellow Believers","type":"news"},{"body":"The man communicates with Igor Muravyov and other believers on biblical topics via video conferencing, recording their conversations on video.\nHe then hands over the discs with the recordings of the conversations to the FSB.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Muravyov in Saint Petersburg","date":"2022-01-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/poronaysk2/index.html#20220101","regions":["stpetersburg"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 30, 2021, the judge of the Nikolsk District Court of the Penza Region, Irina Kuznetsova, sentenced Petr Krupnov and his wife, Maya, to 3 years probation and 8 months of freedom restrictions. The judge considered the discussion of the biblical commandments as participation in the activities of a banned organization.\n“I have not done anything illegal either before the people, or before the state, or before God!” Maya declared, speaking with her last word in court a few days before the verdict. “To be Jehovah's Witness is not a crime, but a great honor! All over the world, in more than 200 countries, Jehovah's Witnesses freely practice their religious beliefs based on the Bible.”\nPetr also did not admit guilt and stressed that he adheres to teachings based on love for people, and this is incompatible with the ideas of extremism.\nNevertheless, the court passed a guilty verdict, appointing a suspended sentence and obliging the family to pay 42 thousand rubles of legal costs. The verdict has not entered into force and can be appealed.\nMaya Krupnova has gone through many shocks in her life. Her first husband was killed, her fellow villagers poisoned their livestock, and their house was nearly burned down. In 2020, Maya's middle daughter died.\nThe case against the Krupnovs, as well as 60-year-old Yuriy Kim, was initiated on October 7, 2020. It was led by Igor Saulin, Investigator for Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Penza Region. The main defendant was Kim, he was accused of organizing extremist activities. The decision to initiate the case stated that Yuriy \"in an unidentified manner involved Maya Krupnova to participate in the activities of the LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" The investigation considered it a crime for the woman to discuss religious issues in the company of friends, for example, how the Bible helps to keep calm in stressful situations.\n19 days after the initiation of the case, Yuriy was summoned 120 km from his home to familiarize himself with the collected materials. Upon arrival, the believer was paralyzed, the ambulance did not manage to save him, and on October 30, 2020, he passed away.\nAfter a year of investigation, on October 6, 2021, the case was taken to court. The file contains audio recordings of Maya's conversations with a girl, an FSB agent, who portrayed an interest in the Bible. In court, she could not remember exactly when the meetings of the believers took place and what was discussed at them. In December 2021, it turned out that the prosecutor did not provide any evidence of the \"criminal actions\" of Petr Krupnov.\nDuring interrogations, many witnesses retracted their testimonies, claiming that they had not said anything like that. Among the witnesses were neighbors who described Maya positively as a hospitable woman. They also noted that the Krupnovs' spouses helped them with the housework.\nAnother Nikolsk resident, Viktor Shayapov, is being prosecuted on the basis of similar charges of extremism. Also, six residents of the regional center - Penza - received suspended sentences from 2 to 4 years.\nOn December 8, 2021, a member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, Andrey Babushkin, sent an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin in connection with the ongoing persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, despite the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court. “By inertia, the investigating authorities and courts continue to sanction searches, arrest believers and pass convictions on them,” the human rights activist expresses concern.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-12-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_b74590b1d0a2e38b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_89bd48d306220c74.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_cdb3bf0fbdd7e649.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/12/310839/image_hu_81a8d5f0a5282e01.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/12/310839.html","regions":["penza"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-1","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Nikolsk Court Hands a Three-Year Suspended Sentence to the Krupnovs for Discussing the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"The court continues to review the hidden video footage from 2018. The lawyer draws the court's attention to the fact that there were no calls for violence at the services. He also reads excerpts from the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 28, 2021, which explains that the divine services of Jehovah's Witnesses, their joint rituals and ceremonies do not in themselves constitute a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, despite the liquidation of their legal entities.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Dutkin and Others in Cheboksary","date":"2021-11-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cheboksary/index.html#20211118","regions":["chuvashia"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The viewing of videos made in the health center \"Lotus\" in 2018 continues. The recordings show believers discussing the importance of singing and singing together; After that, the audience drinks tea and chats.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Dutkin and Others in Cheboksary","date":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cheboksary/index.html#20211117","regions":["chuvashia"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Hearings begin in the Gukovsky District Court of the Rostov Region.\nThe defense is petitioning to change the measure of restraint for 6 men to a milder one. The judge refuses and extends their detention in the pre-trial detention center until May 1, 2022.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Moiseyev and Others in Gukovo","date":"2021-11-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/gukovo/index.html#20211117","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["first-instance","interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The court begins watching videos of joint meetings of believers, which since 2017 have been held in the rented premises of the Lotus health center. These meetings were secretly recorded by the CPE staff.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Dutkin and Others in Cheboksary","date":"2021-11-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cheboksary/index.html#20211108","regions":["chuvashia"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Detective of the FSB Directorate for the Kamchatka Territory, Senior Lieutenant D. Popov, submits to the investigative department for the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation a report and materials on the results of operational-search activities in relation to Dmitry and Nadezhda Semenov.\n","caseTitle":"The Semyonov case in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy","date":"2021-07-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/petropavlovsk_kamchatskiy/index.html#20210721","regions":["kamchatka"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Operational-search measures are carried out: \"wiretapping\", \"removal of information from technical communication channels\", \"inquiry\", \"observation\", \"survey\", \"examination of objects and documents\".\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yakovlev in Sosnovoborsk","date":"2021-06-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sosnovoborsk/index.html#20210601","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On March 20, 2021, the police searched the home of 58-year-old Taganrog-based Aleksandr Skvortsov, having previously placed his home under audio surveillance. Approximately ten years ago, the security forces already invaded the home of this peaceful believer. At that time, he endured exhausting court hearings and served a suspended sentence.\nOn Friday, March 19, Alexander and his wife were lured out of the house on a far-fetched reason: they were called by the traffic police and asked to come to check the information about their car. The Skvortsovs spent about two hours in the inspection. Later that day, Aleksandr discovered special tracking devices in his kitchen at home. A tracking device found in the Skvortsovs\u0026rsquo; house. Taganrog. 19 March 2021 The next day, police officers came to the spouses, accompanied by technical specialists and witnesses - a total of 10 people. They announced a search and began looking for a listening device that they had installed earlier. Law enforcement officers carefully searched the house, basement and outbuildings in the yard for 3 hours, but did not find anything. Electronic devices and personal records were seized from Aleksandr. He was not provided with copies of the order and the protocol of the search. Due to the stress, the believer's wife required urgent medical attention.\nUpdate. On March 26, police conducted searches in the homes of Aleksandr Skvortsov\u0026rsquo;s two married daughters, who live separately. In both houses, nothing was found and seized. According to the operatives themselves who conducted the search, the real reason for this was their desire to find the surveillance device previously discovered by Skvortsov. This is not the first time a civilian in a southern port city has faced criminal prosecution. In August 2011, his house was searched as part of a criminal case initiated under an “extremist” article against 16 Taganrog residents for not stopping to gather for religious meetings. In the spring of 2016, all believers were found guilty. Aleksandr was sentenced to 5.5 years of probation. Aleksandr Skvortsov served his term in full.\n“The faith of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is not prohibited by law. The authorities have repeatedly stressed this. But it is enough to substitute concepts - simply call a peaceful religious meeting the activity of a banned organization - and any believer can be “pulled a fast” as many times as you like through criminal cases with the same charges. In fact, a repressive conveyor belt is being formed in Russia. But as the history of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Soviet Union shows, repression cannot change convictions, ”Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, comments on the situation.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2021-03-22T15:22:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/searches%20saransk_hu_4aa589b81b87365e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/searches%20saransk.jpg","webp":"/news/common/searches%20saransk_hu_dc16356e31723ca3.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/searches%20saransk_hu_d442190f69a95cf6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/03/11.html","regions":["rostov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Taganrog home of one of Jehovah's Witnesses, who previously served more than five years of probation for practicing his faith, was searched again","type":"news"},{"body":"Alexander Skvortsov and his wife are lured out of the house by traffic police officers who ask to come to check the information about their car. The Skvortsovs spend about two hours in the inspection. Late in the evening, Alexander discovers tracking equipment in his house. About 3 months ago, his suspended sentence expired.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Skvortsov and Others in Taganrog","date":"2021-03-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/taganrog/index.html#20210319","regions":["rostov"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"After a two-month break, the Spassky District Court is holding a regular hearing in the case of Malevaniy and others.\nVideo recordings of conversations on religious topics between Olga Opaleva and a secret witness are being viewed.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malevaniy and Others in Spassk-Dalny","date":"2021-03-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/spassk-dalny/index.html#20210309","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["first-instance","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On 12 February 2021, Dmitry Zozulya, Judge of the Savelovsky district court of Moscow, sent the peaceful believers Aleksander Serebryakov and Yuriy Temirbulatov to jail for two months, until 10 April 2021. The men will be kept in Detention Center #7.\nTwo days earlier a new wave of searches of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in Moscow and the Moscow region. In the early morning hours, at least 14 searches were conducted in the apartments of believers in Khovrino and the Levoberezhny district of Moscow, Khimki, and Chekhov. Several believers reported beatings.\nIt has become clear that operatives in 2019 established surveillance of believers and hidden video recording. The investigator believes that in August 2019, the believers held a friendly meeting at which they sang songs about God and read the Bible. In this regard, the investigation charges 43-year-old Aleksandr Serebryakov and 43-year-old Yuriy Temirbulatov with \"committing an intentional grave crime,\" for which they face a sentence of 6 to 10 years in prison under Part 1 Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an organization banned by the court).\nThe court granted the petition of investigator Maria Rasskazova to choose the strictest measure of restraint for the believers in the form of detention. This decision was made even despite the fact that Aleksandr Serebryakov has an elderly disabled mother on his dependents. The suspects intend to appeal the unlawful court ruling.\nEarlier, on November 24, 2020, five more residents exercising their constitutional right to freely practice their religion without forming a legal entity were detained in Moscow. Searches and detentions in Moscow and throughout the country are taking place despite calls from international organizations to end the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses and assurances from the authorities that the Jehovah's Witnesses faith is not banned in Russia.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2021-02-15T14:56:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/colony_hu_b2f7602125f54ebe.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/colony_hu_de99acb6b37a6943.jpg","webp":"/news/common/colony_hu_6e0cd92444077d24.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/colony_hu_2259fc288b0c3b88.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/7.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","sizo","siloviks-violence","282.2-1","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Two Jehovah's Witnesses detained in Moscow after the February 10 raids were placed in a detention center located in Verkhniye Polya","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 12, 2021 judge of the Birobidzhan district court of EAD Aleksey Ivaschenko sentenced the peaceful believer to 2,5 year suspended sentence with restriction of freedom for 1 year and with probation for 2 years. He was declared guilty of participating in extremist activities (Part 2, Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The sentence has not entered into force. He will be under house arrest until the verdict comes into force.\nAlthough there were no victims in the case, the prosecutor asked for four years in prison for the believer. 46-year-old Igor Tsarev and his wife are raising a schoolgirl daughter. His suspended sentence condemns him to a life of constant fear, as he may go to jail at any time if law enforcement officials deem his individual faith \"an extension of the organization.” The believer insists on his innocence and will appeal his sentence.\nReading the Bible with friends and improving his communication skills on spiritual topics was equated by the investigation with criminal activity. \"I am a Jehovah's Witness, but that does not automatically make me a criminal,\" Tsarev told the court shortly before the verdict was read, \"As a people, we are known for our peacefulness. Jehovah's Witnesses form an international brotherhood based on love and mutual respect. The Bible taught me to be a decent man, a responsible husband, a good father, a devoted friend... not to repay evil for evil to anyone. Is this extremism in the sense of our legislation?\"\nIn Birobidzhan, security forces have been harassing peaceful believers since the fall of 2015. It was then that the first planting of banned literature in the worship buildings of Jehovah's Witnesses was recorded. Jehovah's Witnesses from Birobidzhan learned about the beginning of repression for the faith in 2018 when a special operation involving 150 law enforcement officers was carried out against them. The Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region initiated a criminal case against Igor Tsarev on July 30, 2019. The believer has been under house arrest for about 1.5 years (since August 13, 2019).\nThe preliminary investigation into Igor Tsarev's case lasted about 5 months. The charges were based on video footage obtained by FSB officers during covert filming of worship services. On December 23, 2019, the case went to court. Most of the hearings were held behind closed doors at the request of the prosecutor. In his opinion, this was necessary to \"secure\" the participants in the trial from the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. The trial lasted almost 14 months.\nThe Jewish Autonomous Region is one of the regions with the largest number of criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses. Nineteen criminal cases against 22 Jehovah's Witnesses are in various stages of review by the EAO courts. Three local Jehovah's Witnesses, Yevgeniy Golik, Artur Lokhvitskiy, and Anastasiya Sycheva, have already been convicted for these peaceful people exercising their constitutional right to freedom of religion. Igor Tsarev became the 64th resident of modern-day Russia to be criminally convicted for practicing his faith in Jehovah.\nDuring the hearings on Tsarev's case, the prosecutor acknowledged the right, enshrined in Article 28 of the Russian Constitution, for citizens \"to practice any religion individually or in association with others.\" At the same time, he claimed that Igor Tsarev was allowed to believe \"only within himself\" and was not allowed to participate in biblical discussions with co-religionists.\nRussian and foreign figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor do they restrict or prohibit the individual practice of the above-mentioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-12T12:42:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_a59f7b754ce2ae3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_54089242d9e1f130.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_3b866f456a3b357e.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/5/image_hu_bcea6beca6b4847c.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/5.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance","minors","recognizance-agreement"],"title":"The verdict has been announced for the 65th Jehovah's Witness. In Birobidzhan, Igor Tsarev was given a suspended sentence of 2.5 years for reading the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"Judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tuva Aydin Kandan makes a decision to conduct an operational-search measure against Alexander Kazakov \"removal of information from technical communication channels.\"\n","caseTitle":"Kazakov's case in Kyzyl","date":"2021-02-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kyzyl2/index.html#20210210","regions":["tyva"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Major A. A. Bordunov, senior detective of the FSB department in the Vladimir region, provides a certificate of operational search measures carried out in relation to pensioner Boris Simonenko and his wife. It can be seen from the certificate that the accusation is based on telephone wiretapping of conversations between the Symonenko spouses.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Simonenko in Kovrov","date":"2021-02-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kovrov/index.html#20210208","regions":["vladimir"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On February 2, 2021, Olga Klyuchikova, judge of the Birobidzhan district court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, sentenced 35-year-old Artur Lokhvitskiy to 2 years and 6 months in prison conditionally with a 3-year probation period and the obligation to report to the police once a month. The sentence has not come into force.\nThe verdict was handed down under Article 282.2 (2) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The judge considered the discussion of the Bible among fellow believers to be participation in the activities of an extremist organization. The state prosecutor N. Breycher demanded four years in a penal colony and one year of additional restrictions for a peaceful believer. At the same time, there is not a single victim in the case. The defendant does not plead guilty and notes that even the prosecution did not prove the existence of a crime.\n\"In my opinion, the entire judicial investigation proved that the worship meetings that I am charged with are exclusively peaceful, lawful, non-threatening religious activities that were not prohibited by any court. Therefore, there was no crime,\" said Artur Lokhvitskiy, speaking in court with his last word.\nSince the spring of 2017, believers' phones have been tapped and there has been hidden video recording of their worship meetings. In May 2018, in the city of Birobidzhan, an FSB special operation with the participation of 150 law enforcement officers, code-named \"Judgment Day,\" took place against local Jehovah's Witnesses. As a result, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers.\nThe case against Artur Lokhvitskiywas initiated on July 31, 2019. It was investigated by the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Jewish Autonomous Region. The investigation lasted five months. The accusation brought against the believer was based on secretly made video recordings of worship services, where moral and spiritual topics were discussed. On December 24, 2019, the case went to trial. Hearings had been going on for more than a year. The conviction of Artur Lokhvitskiy was the 3rd conviction of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Jewish Autonomous Region.\nArtur Lokhvitskiy is an electrician by profession and works in the fire department. He spent about a year and a half under house arrest. Arthur was followed by his wife, Anna, and mother, Irina. His wife, Anna, suffered serious emotional trauma as a result of the criminal prosecution and had to undergo expensive medical treatment.\nArtur Lokhvitskiy became the 62nd believer in Russia to be convicted after the Russian Supreme Court liquidated the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations.\nRussian and foreign figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the RF Commissioner for Human Rights, the RF Presidential Human Rights Council, the RF President, prominent Russian public figures, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses and do not contain restrictions or bans on the individual practice of the above-mentioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-02-02T17:07:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_2022a223e5b42701.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_a14502378ab87a07.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_23b3f46917883c62.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/02/2/2_2_hu_ba4158e552c64a45.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/02/2.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","families","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Birobidzhan court handed a sentence for believing in God. Artur Lokhvitskiy received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 21, 2021, the judge of the Obluchensky district court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, Olga Afanasyeva, found Anastasiya Sycheva a member of a forbidden organization and sentenced her to 2 years of suspended imprisonment with a 2-year probation period and 6 months of restricted freedom. This punishment was recommended by the state prosecutor.\nAnastasiya Sycheva from Obluchye was sentenced only for participation in worship services and communicating with fellow believers. The believer explained to the court that the services teach compassion, mercy, patience, and other Christian qualities, encouragement to avoid violence and immorality. \"What kind of extremism are we talking about? I don't understand,\" she stressed.\nAfter 2017, Anastasiya Sycheva became the 61st Russian citizen found guilty of extremist activity for practicing faith in Jehovah God. The sentence has not entered into legal force. The believer does not admit her guilt and will appeal it. She notes: \"...there are no victims in the criminal case. Not a single person was harmed by my actions. After watching the video recordings of the worship services in court, Anastasiya Sycheva explained that during the discussions of the biblical teachings there were not extremist ideas, but appeals to compassion for others, which helps those who lead asocial lives to reform. The prosecutor was never able to answer Anastasia's question about which of these he saw as extremism. On January 15, 2021, Anastasia gave her final word, pointing out to the court that \"a minister of God must hate the evil that hurts others. The believer emphasized: \"We try just not to hate people, but even to eradicate such thoughts. I cannot be a friend of God by hurting my neighbor. None of the participants of the trial noted that I had a hatred for other people. [...] Jehovah's Witnesses are in no way associated with extremism, on the contrary, they show love for each other and other people.\"\nAlmost three years earlier, in May 2018, in the city of Birobidzhan, an FSB special operation with the participation of 150 security officials, code-named \"Judgment Day,\" took place against local Jehovah's Witnesses. As a result, 19 criminal cases were initiated against 22 believers. The case against Sycheva was initiated on September 25, 2019. For more than a year, the believer has been under recognizance not to leave (since October 1, 2019). The case was investigated for 5 months by the Investigation Department of the FSB of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region. The case is based on video footage of worship services and recordings of Anastasia's telephone conversations, which, in her opinion, not only lack signs of extremism, but, on the contrary, show respect for the interlocutors.\nOn 4 March 2020, the case went to court. The hearings lasted more than 10 months. There are at least 26 volumes in the case. A witness for the prosecution, police officer Zvereva, who knew nothing about the events Anastasiya Sycheva was accused of, was questioned in court. Zvereva was involved in the formation of administrative offense cases against the Local Religious Organization and its leaders in 2015-2016, who were found guilty by courts for possession of extremist materials, although they were planted by believers. Also, believers reported to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation about the crime committed by law enforcement officers, namely planting prohibited items on them. This report is available in the materials of the criminal case. There was no proper response to this statement from the state.\nAnastasia faced many difficulties in her life. Her older sister died of cancer in one year, and later her mother and brother passed away. The believer took care of and raised two nephews, and now cares for her ailing elderly father. Ten years ago Japanese television made a program about the Sychev family. The program was about family values and human relationships. Journalists liked this large, friendly family, and in the summer of 2020, Japanese reporters found Anastasia again. They reported that the program about their family was being re-run. Ironically, in Russia, this well-meaning woman was accused of \"participating in extremist activities\" (part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code).\nRussian human rights organizations, as well as the international community, consider the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia unlawful. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban Jehovah's Witnesses organizations \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor do they contain a restriction or ban on the individual practice of the aforementioned doctrine.\n","category":"verdict","date":"2021-01-23T14:24:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_4b868e1ebcbe2ff2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_2dca2ddb4e136f7d.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_21a07aae475aad65.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/01/3/image_hu_7ea248ac319f5d67.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/01/3.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","suspended","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Jewish Autonomous Region court sentenced the 43-year-old nurse Anastasiya Sychyeva to two years of suspended sentence for her belief in Jehovah's God","type":"news"},{"body":"The FSB conducts covert operational-search measures against Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Anadyr. Security officials are trying to recruit people with an interest in the Bible to secretly make audio recordings of meetings with Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Romanov in Anadyr","date":"2021-01-01T17:54:07+03:00","permalink":"/en/cases/anadyr/index.html#20210101","regions":["chukotka"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Operational search measures are being carried out in relation to Andrey Danielyan: wiretapping of telephone conversations, obtaining information from a personal computer.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Danielyan in Rubtsovsk","date":"2021-01-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/rubtsovsk/index.html#20210101","regions":["altaisky"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The head of the CPE of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Khabarovsk Territory initiates a religious study of audio recordings of conversations between Boris Yagovitov and a certain Pavel Baleichuk, who participated in operational-search activities in 2018-2020.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Yagovitov in the village of Solnechnoye","date":"2020-12-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/solnechny/index.html#20201214","regions":["khabarovsk"],"tags":["expert-conclusions","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On November 24, 2020, Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow had a total of about 20 searches. In some cases law enforcers broke down the doors, two people were beaten up. Five of them spent two to six days behind bars, now under house arrest. During interrogations, believers were intimidated by the prison and threatened with taking their children away.\nArmed security forces broke into homes of pensioners and young families with children, trying to find extremism in their faith. Most raids took place in Moscow and one in the Tula region. The special operation was organized as part of a criminal case being investigated by Dmitry Smadich from the first Department for Investigation of Special Cases of the Russian Federation SCS Moscow. For many months, law enforcement officers have been spying on believers.\nThe storming of Chernyshev's apartment started at about 6 am. The family awoke from the sounds of broken glass. Armed security guards in balaclavas and camouflage broke down the front door, threw Yuriy, the head of the family, to the floor, and his wife, Yekaterina, was placed facing the wall. The spouses and their minor daughter were then taken to different rooms and banned from communicating. The search at the Chernyshevs lasted about 9 hours in the presence of the film crew of the state TV channel. Electronic devices and all their savings were seized. During the interrogation in the Investigative Committee, the Chernyshevs were prompted to engage in self-incrimination, threatening that otherwise their daughter would be sent to an orphanage, and they \"will not be helped.\" They were asked questions: \"What if your daughter is wooed by a Muslim?\", \"How do you feel about Christ?\" and the like. After the interrogations, Yuriy was detained and sent to the temporary detention facility. Footage of the storming of Chernyshev's apartment was posted on the news channels.\nAnother search took place in the apartment of A.'s family, where the law enforcers first twisted the hands of their neighbor, but when they realized that they had made a mistake, they started breaking the door to the apartment of believers. The hands of а the head of the family were twisted, he was put on the floor and hit on the back with the butt of an automatic rifle. During the search electronic devices, flash drives, bank cards, and cash, documents and personal records, a tape recorder, cassettes, and even a calculator were seized. Later, the believers were taken to the local police station, where they were photographed and fingerprinted. They were then taken to the Investigative Committee for questioning. Investigator Dmitry Smadich asked them questions, among them: \"Do you believe in Trinity?\", \"On what was Christ crucified?\", \"Do you go to the elections?\", \"Do you recognize the president?\", \"Do you transfuse blood?\" and \"Would you cheat on your wife?\".\nThe search lasted about 5 hours for 33-year-old Y. M. The law enforcers looked through the correspondence of the believer in the messengers and threatened her with the jail. During the search, Bible and postcards were seized. After the search, the believer was taken first to the local police station, and later to the Investigative Committee building for questioning.\nIn another case, law enforcement officials insulted two female believers, threatening to strip them and put them out on the street.\nViktor Tchaikovsky, 34, was also the victim of the search. Early in the morning of 24 November he was awakened by a strong knock on the door and shouts: \"You are pouring us! The search in his apartment under the direction of investigator Valeria Bashaeva lasted 5 hours. Electronic devices and data carriers were seized. After the search, Victor was taken to the local police station for fingerprinting and then to the Investigative Committee for questioning. In total, the investigation lasted more than 12 hours.\nBefore the search of 49-year-old Vardan Zakaryan's head was smashed by law enforcement with an automatic rifle buttstock. The believer was hospitalized and was under heavy guard, no one was allowed to see him except doctors, and he was unable to move freely. Two days later, he was discharged and taken to an investigator for interrogation, then to the TDF. Several copies of the Bible were seized from his family. On 30 November, after 6 days of detention, the court released the believer under house arrest. He appealed the illegal detention and beating to the prosecutor's office.\nAll detained believers were sent under house arrest by court order.\nSearches and detentions took place in Moscow, despite calls from international organizations to stop the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses and assurances from the authorities that the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses was not forbidden in Russia.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-12-09T09:48:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/12/2/image_hu_db41bd9b536dce10.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/12/2/image_hu_97f66f1019a93e13.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/12/2/image_hu_68800a2d6c7cd1e2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/12/2/image_hu_19751c8ae49484c8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/12/2.html","regions":["tula","moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","siloviks-violence","interrogation","hidden-surveillance","house-arrest"],"title":"Beating with buttstocks, threats and questions regarding Christ's crucifixion. Details of the raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow","type":"news"},{"body":"At the request of the prosecutor, the court is interrogating FSB investigator M. Beloglazov, who searched Hasan Kogut's apartment and interrogated him at the police station.\nThe accused draws attention to the fact that the search in his home took place in the presence of a 5-year-old child for 4 hours. This was followed by a 4-hour police interrogation. Hassan regards this as psychological pressure. The judge decides that there were no violations on the part of the investigator.\nAfter the break, at the request of the defense, an audio recording of the interrogation of a classified witness is listened to. Due to extraneous noise, the recording of speech cannot be understood, but the judge does not exclude these materials from the case.\nThe proceedings shall proceed to the stage of debate of the parties. They are scheduled for June 18, 2020.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Kogut in Beryozovsky","date":"2020-06-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky/index.html#20200601","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["first-instance","interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"FSB agent Kira Klisheva, pretending to be interested in the Bible, keeps covert video recordings of conversations about God over the Internet.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ledyaykin in Seversk","date":"2020-03-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/seversk/index.html#20200315","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The FSB conducts covert operational-search measures against Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Anadyr. Security officers are trying to recruit people who are interested in the Bible to secretly make audio recordings of meetings with Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Volkov and Others in Anadyr","date":"2020-01-26T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/anadyr2/index.html#20200126","regions":["chukotka"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Georgievsk City Court arrests Viktor Zimovskiy for 1 month and 6 days. The defense does not agree with the decision.\nIt turns out that the accusation of extremism is based on video footage that was secretly held in one of the apartments while believers jointly discussed the Bible, sang songs and prayed.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zimovskiy and others in Georgievsk","date":"2020-01-24T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/georgievsk/index.html#20200124","regions":["stavropol"],"tags":["sizo","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Special forces break into a defenseless elderly woman. Ambulance, hospital, undermined health. She was watched as she prayed, read, sang, and talked to others about God. For the security forces, she is an \"extremist\". They worked this scenario on at least 20 Russian women from 60 to 87 years old.\nAlmost all law enforcement agencies are engaged in surveillance and raids on dissident pensioners: the FSB, the prosecutor's office, the Investigative Committee, the National Guard, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the riot police, and the SOBR.\nHeart attacks, strokes, exacerbations of chronic diseases and complications after surgery are just some of the consequences of the blind or biased application of anti-extremist legislation, which has become the basis for the persecution of older believers.\nParticularly illustrative is the situation in Vladivostok, where charges of extremism were brought against six elderly women at once: Elena Zaishchuk (85 years old), Raisa Usanova (72 years old), Nina Purga (79 years old), Nailya Kogai (68 years old), Lyubov Galaktionova (73 years old) and Nadezhda Anoykina (62 years old). From the stress received due to the actions of the security forces, women's already poor health worsens.\nIn addition, the criminal prosecution had a negative impact on the financial situation of innocent people. Nailya Kogai completely lost her livelihood, since all her savings were blocked with the beginning of the criminal prosecution.\nTwo pensioners from Spassk-Dalny (Primorsky Krai), Olga Panyuta (60 years old) and Olga Opaleva (67 years old), may end up in prison on the same charges. They spent 2 days in the temporary detention facility, and then 357 days under house arrest.\nFor Opaleva, such shocks could cost her life. The night before the search, doctors diagnosed her with a heart attack, after which she spent 2 days in a prison cell. And during one of the trips to the court, right in the convoy car, she had a stroke, which resulted in paralysis of the entire left side of her body, as well as severe headaches. The criminal case has not been closed.\nOther women of venerable age also fell under the article on extremism because of their religious beliefs:\nВалентина Барановская (68 лет) из Абакана (Хакасия); Майя Карпушкина (70 лет) из Хабаровска; Людмила Пономаренко (69 лет) из Ростова-на-Дону; Зинаида Крутякова (61 год) из Подмосковья; Вера Золотова (73 года) из Елизово (Камчатский край); Светлана Рыжкова (66 лет) из Шуи (Ивановская область); Любовь Асатрян (69 лет) и Галина Дергачева (63 года) из Магадана; Валентина Владимирова (63 года) и Татьяна Галькевич (60 лет) из Смоленска; Валентина Суворова (71 год) из Челябинска; Olga Veryovkina, 87, was searched by a group of armed law enforcement officers in Kaluga. \"A full brigade in the camouflage of militants. The ruling was not shown. They say, \"Get up!\" and I say, \"I can't, I'm weak.\" My blood pressure rose from 200 to 115, \"says Olga herself.\nOften, during special events, security officials make excuses: they say, no personal claims against believers, it's just work. But, given that the intimidating actions of the security forces pose a real threat to the lives of elderly civilian women, some are wondering: are such harsh measures justified? Commenting on the raids in Kaluga, lawyer Anton Omelchenko said: \"If our law enforcement officers, in order to come to an elderly woman, gather a crowd, put on masks, take weapons with them, then what cowards they are!\"\nThe criminal case against 78-year-old Kaleria Mamykina, who has been under surveillance for more than a year, stands apart. According to operatives, reading the Bible and talking to friends about God are criminal acts. The investigation lasted seven months in her case, until the investigator came to the conclusion that the accused \"exercised her right to freedom of religion, provided for in Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and therefore there was no corpus delicti in her actions.\"\n","category":"analytics","date":"2020-01-02T16:23:59+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/01/1514/1578966_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_206bf7e5b2a012df.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/01/1514/1578966_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_883742e08a6fe1f0.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/01/1514/1578966_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_e104929aca119d07.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/01/1514/1578966_montazhnaya_oblast_1_hu_27cb38a0195c3abb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/1514.html","regions":["primorye","arkhangelsk","khakassia","khabarovsk","kamchatka","rostov","moscow_obl","ivanovo","chelyabinsk","smolensk","kaluga"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","analytics","review","elderly","health-risk","ivs","house-arrest","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Hunting the Elderly: Security Forces List Older Women in the Ranks of Extremists","type":"news"},{"body":"A woman who portrays an interest in Bible teachings secretly records worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses and her conversations about the Bible with believers.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Shiyan and Matveeva in Lesosibirsk","date":"2020-01-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lesosibirsk3/index.html#20200101","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The court leaves Batchaev in a temporary detention facility for another 72 hours. Meanwhile, Albert's acquaintances report that they are under surveillance. One of the believers reported pressure on her minor son — unknown persons harass him and emphatically openly photograph him.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Batchaev in Cherkessk","date":"2019-12-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/cherkessk/index.html#20191218","regions":["karachaevo"],"tags":["ivs","minors","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator inspects the materials obtained during the ORM in Malyanov's home. A recording of Malyanov's telephone conversations, made a few months earlier, is listened to.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2019-12-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20191205","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Vladimir Poltoradnev's telephone conversations are being tapped.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Poltoradnev and Others in Solikamsk","date":"2019-12-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/solikamsk/index.html#20191204","regions":["perm"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Operational-search measures \"Observation\" are carried out: audio and video recordings of meetings, wiretapping of telephone conversations.\n","caseTitle":"Sushilnikov case in Novokuznetsk","date":"2019-11-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk/index.html#20191101","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Novokuznetsk Investigation Department conducts operational search activities: audio and video recording of meetings of believers, wiretapping of telephone conversations.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Serebryakova in Novokuznetsk","date":"2019-11-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk3/index.html#20191101","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Surveillance of Zherebtsov K. was noticed.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2019-09-27T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov/index.html#20190927","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Surveillance and wiretapping of the phone of one of the believers was noticed.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Nikiforov and Others in Chekhov","date":"2019-09-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chekhov/index.html#20190922","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator A. S. Redozubov summons Petrenko for interrogation as a suspect. During interrogation, he learns that he was under covert audio and video surveillance.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Petrenko in Berezniki","date":"2019-09-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/berezniki/index.html#20190920","regions":["perm"],"tags":["interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Potylitsyn, Andrey Maksimovich and Elena Mishneva come for interrogation at the FSB, where it turns out that the case involves a hidden video recording made in the house of one of the believers at the moment when she had guests. When asked by the lawyer who made the recording, the investigator replies: \"Our employee.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Teterin and Others in Severodvinsk","date":"2019-07-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/severodvinsk/index.html#20190705","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"tags":["interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 18, 2019, searches and detentions for religious beliefs continued in the Primorsky Territory. In the city of Ussuriysk, officers of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation searched the apartments of two believers who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Mobile phones and other electronic devices were seized from Sergey Korolchuk and Dmitry Tishchenko. Dmitry Tishchenko's wife was interrogated as a witness to the \"crime\".\nAt the same time, Sergey Korolchuk was detained and placed in a temporary detention center, where he stayed until June 20. During the interrogation, it turned out that Sergey had been under covert video surveillance for a long time. The believer was charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - \"organizing the activities of an extremist organization.\"\nEarlier, on June 5, 2019, Sergey Melnikov was detained in Ussuriysk and sent to a pre-trial detention center for two months. In general, this is the seventh criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Primorsky Territory. Five believers in the region remain in detention. Despite this, the Russian authorities claim that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\" Public figures, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other Russian and international organizations have repeatedly drawn attention to religious persecution in Russia.\nUpdate. On October 23, 2019, in Ussuriysk, 45-year-old Vitaliy Ilinykh and his wife Irina underwent another search.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-06-21T23:05:13+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/941/190206_saransk532_0_0_hu_bc35e2b13fcbc919.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/941/190206_saransk532_0_0_hu_f571588148f19ed3.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/941/190206_saransk532_0_0_hu_18155fa8c9f9373.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/941/190206_saransk532_0_0_hu_a34abcc86fea65d6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/941.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","hidden-surveillance","282.2-1","interrogation"],"title":"In Primorye, new searches for faith, one believer stayed behind bars for two days","type":"news"},{"body":"While relaxing by the river, next to the tents, Chita believers notice themselves being surveilled: they discover tracking devices and hidden audio recordings.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ermolaev and Others in Chita","date":"2019-06-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chita/index.html#20190615","regions":["zabaykalsky"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the evening of June 4, 2019, the FSB conducted searches in at least 9 homes of local believers. Viktor Stashevsky, 52, was detained, but the next day he was released from the detention center on his own recognizance. A criminal case was opened against him under the article \"Organization of the activities of an extremist organization\" (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).\nThe search warrants were issued by the judge of the Leninsky District Court of Sevastopol, Anatoly Vasilenko. They were attended by FSB officers and special forces. In at least one case, the security forces invaded the apartment in the absence of the owners, making the door unusable. The searches continued until late at night. Computer hard drives, phones and tablets were seized. The next morning, the believers were summoned for interrogation to FSB investigator A. Chumakin, who specializes in persecution for faith in Crimea.\nShortly before the searches, residents of one of the apartments suspected hidden espionage activity and changed their wireless Internet access point. During the search, the task force was accompanied by a \"technician\" who hid his face behind a mask.\nDetainee Viktor Stashevskiy was a former member of the local Christian religious organization (MHRO) of Jehovah's Witnesses. This organization was registered by the Russian Ministry of Justice in May 2015 at the initiative of the Russian authorities, along with 21 other similar organizations, in order to promote the religion of 8,000 Jehovah's Witnesses on the peninsula. Less than 2 years later, without receiving any complaints, without involvement in the case, these organizations were liquidated by the Supreme Court of Russia with a single stroke of the pen and recognized as \"extremist\" without any reason. The criminal prosecution of believers was a direct consequence of these events, despite the fact that the activities of the MHRO were not carried out after the liquidation.\nThe 10-minute film tells about how the persecution cripples the lives of innocent Crimean believers.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2019-06-05T10:52:57+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/904/190215_surgut2759_0_0_hu_662e0edcab67be80.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/904/190215_surgut2759_0_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/904/190215_surgut2759_0_0_hu_a47e5911c24caa4c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/904/190215_surgut2759_0_0_hu_e8566297f0f0d897.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/904.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","new-case","282.2-1","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"Raid and detention of Jehovah's Witnesses in Sevastopol","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 7, 2019, a criminal case was initiated against Kaleria Fedorovna Mamykina. The woman is accused of \"continuing the illegal activities of the banned local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Arkhangelsk.\" Investigators equated reading the Bible and talking about faith with acts with criminal intent.\nFor more than a year, the woman was under surveillance, during which sufficient information was collected, according to investigators, indicating the presence in the actions of Kaleria Fedorovna of signs of a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Namely: participation in meetings of groups of possible participants in extremist activities at their place of residence.\nThe case is being investigated by the investigator for the investigation of especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Arkhangelsk Region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug R. Shagarov, who is in the rank of lieutenant colonel.\nRussian and foreign leaders and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses \"do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\"\n","category":"trial","date":"2019-05-07T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0_hu_87c5d9fbde9b8ed0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0_hu_de1a879ad76fa4f4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/935/planting-062765_0_hu_7713b4ab65b461a7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/935.html","regions":["arkhangelsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["elderly","new-case","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A 78-year-old resident of Arkhangelsk is accused of inciting religious hatred with criminal intent","type":"news"},{"body":"Lieutenant of Justice E. S. Marvanyuk, investigator of the Investigative Directorate for Ussuriysk of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory, makes a decision to initiate a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The reason for this is the testimony of the witness K.V. Rusakov, an employee of the department of the FSB of Russia in the Primorsky Territory in Ussuriysk, who from 21.08.2017 to 23.09.2018 conducted surveillance and listened to telephone conversations of believers.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Korolchuk in Ussuriysk","date":"2019-03-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ussuriysk2/index.html#20190330","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["new-case","282.2-1","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator P. A. Madjar submits a report to the head of the Investigative Committee E. Y. Smirnykh on the discovery of \"signs of a crime\" by Dmitry Vinogradov. This comes about two and a half months after the embedded agent \"Sergey Makarenko\" questions Dmitriy about the teachings of the Bible.\nPrior to this, the surveillance of Chelyabinsk believers was carried out by \"Lilia Ruzayeva\", who introduced him as her brother.\nThe investigator points out that \"according to the results of the operational-search activity \"Observation\", P. N. Popov, V. A. Suvorova, V. N. Suvorov are members of the religious organization \"Jehovah's Witnesses\", whose activities are prohibited in Russia.\" The investigation calls the citizen's religion the activities of a legal entity - the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. It is noteworthy that, according to Makarenko, Chelyabinsk Jehovah's Witnesses \"did not force him to this faith, they did not ask for donations.\"\n","caseTitle":"Case of Vinogradov in Chelyabinsk","date":"2019-02-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk2/index.html#20190218","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Malyanov notices that he is being followed. His phone calls are recorded.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2019-02-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20190201","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The security forces begin operational-search measures against Viktor Chernov and several other Jehovah's Witnesses - an audio recording of the services is being made.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Chernov in Tavrichanka","date":"2018-12-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tavrichanka2/index.html#20181202","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator summons local residents suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses for interrogation and conducts other investigative actions. During confrontations with Ekaterina Petrova, believers learn that she, on the instructions of the special services, secretly filmed her conversations about faith in God.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Barmakin in Vladivostok","date":"2018-10-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok2/index.html#20181001","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["interrogation","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Residents of Neftekumsk have repeatedly faced surveillance. Unknown persons found out information about believers at their place of work, from their children and other relatives. ","caseTitle":"Case of Samsonov and Others in Neftekumsk","date":"2018-10-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/neftekumsk/index.html#20181001","regions":["stavropol"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On September 17, 2018, in Perm and other cities of the Perm Territory, such as Gubakha and Ocher, searches were carried out in the homes of citizens who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Several citizens were detained and interrogated, including 77-year-old Boris Burylov. According to preliminary data, after three days of detention in the detention center, 50-year-old Igor Turik and 51-year-old Viktor Kuchkov were placed under house arrest.\nA criminal case against these citizens was initiated on September 7, 2018 by an investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia in the Perm Territory. Turik, Kuchkov and Burylov are charged with violating Article 282.2(1) (organization of an extremist community). According to available information, the security services tapped their phones and conducted surveillance on them.\nDuring the searches, mobile phones and other electronic devices were seized from citizens. During searches and interrogations, FSB officers threatened citizens with long prison terms.\nLaw enforcement agencies across the country mistakenly interpret peaceful meetings of believers as \"extremist activity.\" Dozens of human rights activists, as well as the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation , express concern about the growing religious repression. ","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-09-21T11:04:15+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/09/473/depositphotos_75905113_0_hu_9562793a62681db7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/09/473/depositphotos_75905113_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/09/473/depositphotos_75905113_0_hu_5a6a4c97f64aac9f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/09/473/depositphotos_75905113_0_hu_2199880271566a24.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/09/473.html","regions":["perm"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","ivs","house-arrest","282.2-1","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A new criminal case and house arrest of two believers in the Perm region","type":"news"},{"body":"The judge of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court, Oleg Kolesnikov, makes a decision to conduct operational-search measures \"in order to document the criminal activities of Oleg Konshin.\" They include listening to telephone conversations using audio recordings and \"removing information from technical communication channels.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2018-08-31T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20180831","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A woman participating in a worship service, which is attended by Liya Maltseva, makes a hidden video.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Maltseva in Partizansk","date":"2018-08-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/partizansk2/index.html#20180805","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Covert video surveillance is being conducted in Savelyev's apartment in an attempt to record his practice of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Savelyev in Novosibirsk","date":"2018-08-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novosibirsk3/index.html#20180804","regions":["novosibirsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"From 7:00 a.m. on July 20, 2018, at least three homes of citizens believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in Blagoveshchensk. One of them was charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).\nThe case is being conducted by the FSB of Russia for the Amur Region, investigator I. Beloglazov. According to the investigator, it became known that as part of the operational preparation of this case, a listening device was installed in the apartment of a married couple for almost six months, as a result, the investigation has a number of details of the personal life of the spouses. Such an unceremonious invasion of privacy, violation of the right to inviolability of the home, personal and family secrets, became possible as part of the brutal persecution unleashed against Jehovah's Witnesses. Law enforcement officers across the country falsely interpret compliance with common religious precepts, such as praying together or reading the Bible, as participation in the activities of an extremist organization. All this was a direct consequence of a miscarriage of justice made by the Supreme Court of Russia and personally by Judge Yuri Ivanenko.\nSearches in the homes of peaceful Blagoveshchensk residents were sanctioned by Oleg Filatov, a judge of the Blagoveshchensk City Court of the Amur Region. Similar criminal cases have been initiated in other Far Eastern regions - in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, in the Magadan and Jewish Autonomous Regions, and also in Yakutia. Update. According to updated data, on July 20, 2018, 7 searches were conducted in the apartments of believers in Blagoveshchensk.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-07-23T23:12:14+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0_hu_ef9922f011dd685f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0_hu_9ee4384f48cdbbd9.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/07/373/180418_polyarnyy_vylamyvayut_dver3351_0_hu_a56c2aa557bee22e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/07/373.html","regions":["amur"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"In the Amur region, a criminal case for faith was initiated, searches were carried out","type":"news"},{"body":"Investigator Beloglazov conducts searches in 7 houses of residents of Blagoveshchensk. The searches were authorized by Oleg Filatov, judge of the Blagoveshchensk City Court of the Amur Region.\nIt becomes known that the operatives installed a listening device in the apartment where Dmitry Golik lives with his wife. For almost six months, the details of their personal lives were listened to.\nBeloglazov initiates a criminal case against Dmitry Golik under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The believer is issued a decision on the measure of restraint in the form of a subscription not to leave and proper behavior. He is interrogated in the status of the accused.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Berchuk and Golik in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2018-07-20T16:43:11+03:00","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk2/index.html#20180720","regions":["amur"],"tags":["search","hidden-surveillance","new-case","recognizance-agreement","interrogation"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Senior investigator of the FSB of Russia in the Amur Region I. A. Beloglazov conducts searches in 7 houses of residents of Blagoveshchensk. The searches were authorized by Oleg Filatov, judge of the Blagoveshchensk City Court of the Amur Region.\nIt becomes known that in October 2017, operatives installed a listening device in the apartment of Kristina Golik and her husband, Dmitry Golik , and collected information for six months.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Golik and Others in Blagoveshchensk","date":"2018-07-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/blagoveshchensk3/index.html#20180720","regions":["amur"],"tags":["search","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On June 26, 2018, in the city of Shuya (Ivanovo Region), police conducted new searches in the homes of citizens believed to be Jehovah's Witnesses. Adults and a young child were interrogated, and three citizens were asked not to leave on their own recognizance. Earlier, on April 20, 2018, mass searches were already carried out in the homes of believers in the city. 40-year-old Dmitry Mikhailov was sent to a pre-trial detention center.\nAccording to investigators, a hidden video camera was installed in one of the believers' apartments. After new searches, the believers were taken to the body of the Investigative Committee. A 10-year-old girl was also taken there and interrogated there. During the interrogation, in the presence of the school psychologist, the child was forced to disclose the religion of the family, she burst into tears. Her mother threatened that if she refused to cooperate with the investigation, she could be charged with another crime - \"involving minors in the commission of a crime.\"\nIt became known that new criminal cases were initiated and a written undertaking not to leave four local residents, a man and three women, including Elena Mikhailova, the wife of Dmitry Mikhailov, was taken. Since May 29, 2018, Dmitry Mikhailov has been in custody in a pre-trial detention center, although he is the only son of an elderly mother and takes care of her, has a permanent place of residence and work, as well as other close social ties in the city of Shuya.\nThe accusation is built by substituting concepts: the constitutional right of everyone to profess his religion and the criminal offense of participation in an extremist organization. Electronic devices, hard drives, cameras, personal notes, documents, Bibles, including in the Orthodox Synodal translation, musical notes and even a children's diary of a music school were confiscated from citizens. A new criminal case has been initiated. The investigator for all cases is Captain of Justice Alexander Ryazantsev. Earlier, believers in this city reported that during interrogations, Captain Ryazantsev insulted them and their religious beliefs.\nThe repression for faith in Shuya drew the attention of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation. On June 20, 2018, the Council mentioned criminal proceedings in this city and called on the Prosecutor General's Office to check the legality of initiating these and similar cases in other cities.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-07-10T23:28:09+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/07/366/22_13360_hu_fd3d2b4bce912796.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/07/366/22_13360.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/07/366/22_13360_hu_71b89035c09b70e7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/07/366/22_13360_hu_b242336996e811a3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/07/366.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["minors","interrogation","search","recognizance-agreement","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"New searches in Shuya, 10-year-old child interrogated","type":"news"},{"body":"A judge of the Chelyabinsk Regional Court gives permission to conduct operational-search activities using audio, video and photo documentation at Olga Zhelavskaya's place of residence.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Zhelavskaya in Chelyabinsk","date":"2018-06-16T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk7/index.html#20180616","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Judge of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court Vedernikov A. A. satisfies the petition of the Deputy Chief of Police of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region Yaremchuk V. G. to conduct operational-search measures against Sergei Verkhoturov.\nOn the basis of a court order, the police have the right to listen to the believer's telephone conversations for 90 days, as well as to remove information from technical communication channels - a cell phone and a social network page.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Verhoturov in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2018-05-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod4/index.html#20180525","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Dmitry Mikhailov, a 40-year-old resident of Shuya (Ivanovo region), who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, was found to be suspected of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and a written undertaking not to leave was taken from him. Early in the morning of April 20, 2018, in the city of Shuya, searches were simultaneously conducted in 4 apartments of citizens who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nDuring one of the searches, riot policemen, having invaded the believers, put a gun to the head of their neighbor in the communal apartment, although he did not offer any resistance, and forced this peaceful man to lie on the floor, so that he remained in this position for about 15 minutes. During another search, the man was threatened with handcuffs to prevent him from getting legal advice over the phone. The woman, whose house was searched, could not follow the actions of the operatives, because she had to calm a small child. After the searches, women who exercised their right under Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation during interrogation were intimidated with criminal prosecution. Phones and tablets were taken away from citizens, which in most cases they need for work and everyday affairs. Bank cards and various kinds of documentation were also seized.\nPolice officers participated in the searches, for example, Major Mikhail Konstantinov, senior commissioner of the UEEX for economic crimes, and Lieutenant Colonel Konstantin Konovalov, deputy head of the Center \"E\" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Ivanovo region. One of the believers said that during the interrogation, investigator Aleksandr Ryazanov used insulting characteristics in relation to his religious views.\nThe case of Dmitry Mikhailov was initiated on April 19, 2018 by a senior investigator of the Komsomolsk Interdistrict Investigation Department, seconded to the Investigative Department for the city of Shuya of the Investigative Department for the Ivanovo Region, Captain of Justice Robert Barseghyan. On the same day, Sergey Garber, a judge of the Shuisky City Court, authorized a search of Dmitry Mikhailov's house. The initiation of the criminal case was preceded by operational-search activities that lasted several months, including wiretapping of believers' phones and secret video recording. The criminal case was a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban the activities of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Law enforcers mistakenly mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in an extremist organization.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2018-05-15T15:58:10+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0_hu_cb8bbc79fc28e15e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0_hu_7df984e635d864c2.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/05/313/mihaylov_dmitriy4875_0_hu_9b4e644f4360b76d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/05/313.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-2","recognizance-agreement","minors","interrogation","siloviks-violence","hidden-surveillance"],"title":"A Criminal Case for Faith in the Ivanovo Region","type":"news"},{"body":"The acting chairman of the Supreme Court of Yakutia, Alexander Sedalishchev, makes a decision to allow audio and video surveillance at Ivashin's place of residence for a period of 60 days.\nIn April 2018, during the operational-search activities, Ivashin's phones were wiretapped and his house was monitored. Based on religious sayings and conversations with acquaintances, Ivashin is recognized as the leader of a group of 14 people. Operational activities are supervised by detectives from Yakutsk.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ivashin in Lensk","date":"2018-04-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lensk/index.html#20180410","regions":["sakha"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Local believers began to notice themselves being followed. Police officers came to one of them and inquired about family members.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Samsonov and Others in Neftekumsk","date":"2018-03-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/neftekumsk/index.html#20180328","regions":["stavropol"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Allow wiretapping of Igor Ivashin's phone for a period of 180 days. Such a decision is made by the chairman of the Yakutsk city court Ivan Vinokurov.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ivashin in Lensk","date":"2018-02-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lensk/index.html#20180220","regions":["sakha"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A judge of the Chelyabinsk Regional Court gives permission to conduct operational-search measures \"Observation\" in relation to unidentified members of the \"local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses\" (hereinafter referred to as LRO).\n","caseTitle":"The case of Gizatulin in Chelyabinsk","date":"2018-02-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/chelyabinsk5/index.html#20180206","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The apartments of six families of believers are under covert surveillance, which lasts up to 4 months.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Alushkin and Others in Penza","date":"2018-02-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/penza/index.html#20180201","regions":["penza"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Judge of the Ivanovo Regional Court O.V. Mutovkina authorizes \"secret inspection of premises, buildings, structures\", as well as secret \"observation\" using audio-video recording in the home of the believer Ryzhkova S.A.\nOver the next 3 months, operational-search measures are being carried out, including wiretapping of believers' phones and secret video filming.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Mikhaylovs and Others in Shuya","date":"2018-01-15T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shuya/index.html#20180115","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Operational-search measures are being carried out, in particular, wiretapping of dialogues between believers from Luchegorsk and embedded operatives who depict interest in the Bible.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vyaznikov in Luchegorsk","date":"2018-01-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/luchegorsk3/index.html#20180101","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Law enforcement officers listen to Sergey Malyanov's telephone conversations, remove information about him from technical communication channels, and also monitor the believer.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Malyanov and Others in Nizhny Novgorod","date":"2018-01-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/nizhniy-novgorod2/index.html#20180101","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Elena Studenova, an employee of the Russian Guard, as well as Kira Klisheva, pretending to be interested in the Bible, communicate with believers in Seversk and keep secret recordings of conversations on a dictaphone and a mobile phone camera.\n","caseTitle":"Korotun case in Seversk","date":"2018-01-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk2/index.html#20180101","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A man who had previously attended such meetings comes to the Chekhov Palace of Culture for worship of a religious group of Jehovah's Witnesses. Using a recording device issued by an operational officer, he makes an audio recording of the peaceful discussion of biblical teachings and prophecies by believers.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Metsger in Perm","date":"2017-12-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm/index.html#20171217","regions":["perm"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A married couple who previously attended meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, secretly using dictaphones, conducts conversations with Solovyov and Metzger on religious topics at home.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Metsger in Perm","date":"2017-12-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm/index.html#20171214","regions":["perm"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A small group of those who had previously attended meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses, secretly using dictaphones, conduct conversations with Solovyov on religious topics.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Solovyev in Perm","date":"2017-12-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm3/index.html#20171214","regions":["perm"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"A man who in the past professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, on the instructions of the center \"E\", having received hidden recording equipment from operatives, conducts a discussion with Solovyov about the Bible.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Solovyev in Perm","date":"2017-11-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/perm3/index.html#20171125","regions":["perm"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Operational-search measures begin against believers in the village of Razdolnoye (secret video recording of the service). Later, on the basis of the video, it was concluded that some believers were allegedly the leaders of the banned organization, while others were participants. Among them is Lyudmila Shut.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shut in Razdolnoye","date":"2017-11-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye2/index.html#20171109","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, operational search measures are being carried out against local Jehovah's Witnesses, including wiretapping, control of mail, and secret audio recordings of liturgical meetings. Embedded agents Salov and Kuzmin are involved in this.\nA criminal case is initiated against Andrey Stupnikov, in which Natalya Voropaeva is involved as a witness. Her apartment is examined, and a year later it is searched. During two interrogations, the believer consistently uses Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.\nA decision is made to separate materials and objects against Natalia Voropaeva and 8 other believers from the materials of the criminal case of Alexander Stupnikov into a separate production.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Voropaeva in Krasnoyarsk","date":"2017-11-01T10:26:17+03:00","permalink":"/en/cases/krasnoyarsk10/index.html#20171101","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["search","hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Hidden video cameras are installed in the apartments of the residents of Polyarny, whom the FSB considers Jehovah's Witnesses. Surveillance at the request of the FSB is authorized by the Northern Naval Military Court.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Markin and Trofimov in Polyarny","date":"2017-11-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/polyarny/index.html#20171101","regions":["murmansk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigators claim that Anatoly Vilitkevich holds biblical discussions with his friends at home.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vilitkevich in Ufa","date":"2017-11-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ufa/index.html#20171101","regions":["bashkortostan"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Tomsk Regional Court allows the special services (Center \"E\") to establish secret surveillance in the apartment of one of the believers in Tomsk.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klimov in Tomsk","date":"2017-10-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk/index.html#20171025","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Surveillance and secret audio recording of conversations between Klimov and his acquaintances are being conducted.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klimov in Tomsk","date":"2017-10-25T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk/index.html#20171025","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"At Sergey Filatov's home, a meeting of friends and acquaintances takes place, where they discuss spiritual topics and thoughts from the Holy Scriptures, as well as sing religious songs. At this moment, a secret audio recording is being conducted, organized by Vladislav Sradetsky, an operative of the FSB department for Crimea and Sevastopol. He later becomes a witness in the case.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Filatov in Dzhankoy","date":"2017-10-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/dzhankoy/index.html#20171010","regions":["crimea"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In the apartment of Anatoliy Vilitkevich, secret video surveillance is installed in order to identify his secret prayers.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vilitkevich in Ufa","date":"2017-10-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ufa/index.html#20171001","regions":["bashkortostan"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Ekaterina Petrova, a 30-year-old local resident, feigning an interest in the Bible, meets with local believers and asks questions about faith in God. Later it turns out that she conducts hidden video filming on the instructions of the special services.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Barmakin in Vladivostok","date":"2017-10-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/vladivostok2/index.html#20171001","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Judge of the Ivanovo Regional Court A.V. Plyukhanov authorizes the ORM \"Wiretapping\" of Mikhailova D.V.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Mikhaylovs and Others in Shuya","date":"2017-09-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shuya/index.html#20170921","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Operatives receive information from former members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community that Sergey Filatov was once one of the founders of the Local Religious Organization (LRO) of Jehovah's Witnesses \"Sivash\" and continues to be an active believer. The organization itself was closed after the decision of the Supreme Court to recognize 396 organizations of believers as extremist, after which it did not carry out activities. The security forces put Sergey under surveillance and found out that he did not stop believing in God, and continued to gather with his fellow believers. Despite the fact that the courts' decision should not have violated the right of citizens to be Jehovah's Witnesses, law enforcement officers are beginning to prepare the basis for criminal prosecution.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Filatov in Dzhankoy","date":"2017-09-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/dzhankoy/index.html#20170901","regions":["crimea"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The Investigative Committee of Ulyanovsk begins operational-search measures against several peaceful believers. Their telephone conversations are tapped.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Zelenskiy and Others in Ulyanovsk","date":"2017-09-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/ulyanovsk/index.html#20170901","regions":["ulyanovsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Operational-search measures begin against Vladimir Filippov and other believers in the village of Razdolnoye (a secret video recording of a divine service, an audio recording of a conversation about the Bible with a certain B.N. Ulyankin, depicting a spiritual interest). Later, on the basis of audio and video recordings, it is concluded that Filippov is allegedly the head of the banned organization, and the other participants are participants.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Filippov in Razdolnoye","date":"2017-08-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/volno-nadezhdinskoye3/index.html#20170818","regions":["primorye"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigators establish that believers meet from time to time to pray and discuss biblical topics.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klimov in Tomsk","date":"2017-08-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk/index.html#20170810","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Long before the initiation of a criminal case, the judge of the Tomsk Regional Court, Andrei Goncharov, allowed the Center \"E\" to carry out operational search measures against Sergey Klimov: wiretapping telephone conversations and removing information from technical communication channels.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Klimov in Tomsk","date":"2017-08-04T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/tomsk/index.html#20170804","regions":["tomsk"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Covert surveillance, including audio and video recordings, is being conducted in order to collect information regarding Konstantin Bazhenov, Alexey Budenchuk, Alexey Miretsky, Felix Makhammadiyev, Roman Gridasov, Gennady German.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Bazhenov and Others in Saratov","date":"2017-07-17T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/saratov/index.html#20170717","regions":["saratov"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Following the plan, operatives S. Chumachkov and N. Luchikhin, feigning interest in religion, twice come to peaceful services. They record the Bible program on hidden video cameras mounted in the borsette and items of clothing.\nThe video materials are transferred for \"examination\" to Natalia Nikolaevna Kryukova, a mathematics teacher who collaborates with the Russian Institute of Cultural Studies.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Stepanov and Sivak in Sergiyev Posad","date":"2010-08-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sergiyev-posad/index.html#20100801","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Under the heading \"secret\" in the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Moscow Region, a plan of operational-search measures is approved against followers of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Sergiev Posad district.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Stepanov and Sivak in Sergiyev Posad","date":"2010-07-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sergiyev-posad/index.html#20100730","regions":["moscow_obl"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"At a young age, Ivan Neverov, following the example of his parents, became a Christian and has remained loyal to his decision despite being persecuted for his faith.\nIvan was born in April 1986 in the city of Mineralnye Vody, Stavropol Territory. He has an elder sister. Their father was a builder, and their mother was a footwear technologist. Parents instilled in their children a love for work and the Bible. Ivan spent his free time with friends who were also raised with high moral standards. He is still friends with many of them to this day.\nIvan\u0026#39;s family had difficulties: his father abused alcohol, and his mother was already thinking about divorce. Everything changed when, at a construction site where the man worked, a woman entered a construction booth and told about the Bible. Ivan\u0026#39;s father was interested, and he said to her: \u0026quot;Come to us and explain to my wife that divorce is not allowed.\u0026quot; Bible study began, the father broke with bad habits and kept the family together. The son was baptized at the age of 12, in 1998.\nAfter school, Ivan went to college and graduated as an auto mechanic. The young man gained a good reputation and was invited to serve in the Presidential Regiment. Guided by peaceful Christian principles, Ivan refused military service and instead performed alternative civilian service (ACS) for three and a half years at a psychoneurological boarding school 1,500 km from home. The believer humorously recalls that at first, he had to sleep in the treatment room on a gurney, and that his salary was 2,000 rubles a month, despite having to pay 2,200 rubles just for food in the dining room.\nAfter the ACS, Ivan worked as a builder and also helped his parents in solving household issues. Gradually, he mastered new skills: painting and plumbing work, tiling. Clients and colleagues spoke of him as an honest, diligent person and a qualified specialist.\nIn 2013, at a friend\u0026#39;s wedding, Ivan met his future wife, Tatyana. A year later they got married. In the same year, Ivan lost his mother, and in 2022, his father.\nSince 2015, the couple have been living in Saransk, where Ivan continued to work in the field of repair and construction. Tatyana works as a hairdresser; regular advanced training courses have helped her become a sought-after master.\nSearches of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Saransk began in 2016. Among the first to have them was Vladimir Atryakhin, Ivan\u0026#39;s half-brother.\nFrom 2020 to 2022, covert surveillance was conducted in the apartment of the couple Neverovs. \u0026quot;Later we realized that we were listened to not only during meetings for worship—there was a wiretapping in the apartment, and they heard our entire personal life. It was unpleasant,\u0026quot; Ivan shared.\nRelatives and friends were worried about the arrest of the believer and wondered how it was possible to send such a person to a pre-trial detention center. Ivan recalls: \u0026quot;Tatyana and I already understood that this would happen, we were preparing. Most of all, I was worried that we would be apart, and how it would all affect her.\u0026quot;\n","date":"2023-03-07","image":{"jpg":"/prisoners/neverov/photo_hu_abfbe87adbb73151.jpg","jpg2x":"/prisoners/neverov/photo_hu_20a398799e2950e9.jpg","webp":"/prisoners/neverov/photo_hu_ad7ccaa2a10e06a3.webp","webp2x":"/prisoners/neverov/photo_hu_b4154dd280d4406a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/prisoners/neverov.html","regions":["mordovia"],"tags":["hidden-surveillance","families"],"title":"Ivan Neverov","type":"prisoners"}]