[{"body":"On January 31, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights, having considered seven complaints from Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia, recognized the disruption of worship services from 2010 to 2014 as a violation of fundamental freedoms. The ECHR ruled to pay compensation to the applicants in the amount of 345,773 EUR and another 5,000 EUR as legal costs.\nWhat Happened?\nThis case concerns the disruption of religious meetings in 17 regions of Russia, as well as searches, confiscation of literature and personal belongings, and several cases of detention with personal searches.\nLaw enforcement officers, sometimes armed and wearing masks, would brake into the buildings where worship services of Jehovah's Witnesses were being conducted. The actions of law enforcement officers were justified by technicalities, for example, by the fact that the meetings were organized without prior notice to the authorities. The security forces either demanded that the event be stopped or remained on the premises and filmed what was happening using photo and video equipment, after which they interrogated those present.\nOn several occasions, police raided places of worship, including private residences. The search warrants did not provide specific grounds. They only stated that the buildings may contain \"evidence relevant to the criminal case.\"\n“The applicants unsuccessfully pleaded with [the police] to postpone the search until after the end of the religious services.” Several similar cases are described in the ECHR decision (§ 4).\nThe victims appealed against the actions of the security forces in local courts, but their demands were not satisfied.\nECHR Decision\nThe European Court concluded that the actions of the Russian authorities violated Article 9 of the Convention on Human Rights, which declares the fundamental right to participate in peaceful religious assemblies.\nHere are excerpts from the judgment of the ECHR.\n“The disruption of a religious assembly by the authorities and sanctioning of the applicants for holding ‘unauthorized’ religious events amounts to ‘interference by a public authority’ with the applicants’ right to manifest their religion.” (§ 9)\n“The Court has previously noted the consistent case-law of Russia’s Supreme Court that religious meetings, even those conducted on rented premises, did not require prior authorization from, or notice to, the authorities . . . [the applicants'] conviction did not have a clear . . . legal basis and was not ‘prescribed by law.’” (§ 10)\n“It is undisputed that all religious assemblies were peaceful in their nature and were not likely to cause any disturbance or danger to the public order. Their disruption . . . did not pursue a ‘pressing social need’ and therefore not ‘necessary in a democratic society.’” (§·11)\n“The Court finds that the search warrants had been couched in extremely broad terms . . . They did not specify why the particular premises were targeted, what it was that the police expected to find there and what relevant and sufficient reasons justified the need to conduct the search.” (§·12)\nWhat Does the Decision of the European Court Mean?\nAlthough the cases reviewed by the ECHR dealt with events prior to the ban on Russian legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2017, hundreds of criminal cases filed since then have treated the joint discussion of the Holy Scriptures as a crime.\nYaroslav Sivulskiy, representative of the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, commented on the decision of the ECHR: “The ECHR once again emphasized that there is not and cannot be anything extremist in the religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses. The same was recognized by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia; however, some Russian courts continue to act contrary to these rulings, putting Jehovah’s Witnesses behind bars merely because of their religion.”\nMore than 60 applications from those who suffered from the repressive campaign against Russian Jehovah's Witnesses are awaiting the European Court's decision.\nIn June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights recognized the liquidation of legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as illegal and demanded that the criminal prosecution of believers be stopped and that all those imprisoned for their faith be released.\n","category":"victory","date":"2022-12-31T17:59:10+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_bef00bf20962b44e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_19500d295c944042.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_7061905fe753f9ea.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_aac3c5ccb8a11a3f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/02/031759.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["echr","compensation","analytics","review","meetings-disruption"],"title":"The ECHR Ordered Russia to Pay About 350,000 EUR for Disrupting the Religious Meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On the morning of January 19, 2020, law enforcement officers detained about 15 believers in Kazan, including two women over the age of 80 and two children. All of them were interrogated under psychological pressure about who was forcing them to read the Bible. Some believers were searched.\nAt about 11 a.m. on January 19, three investigators, accompanied by six masked riot policemen, entered Tatiana Obizhestvit's apartment. At this time, Tatiana had guests. About 15 people, including children aged 9 and 12, were taken to the local department for combating organized crime at 3 Karl Fuchs Street. During the interrogation, the investigators did their best to find out what the believers were doing in a private apartment, which of them was the \"senior\" and who made them discuss spiritual topics with each other. Intimidation techniques were used. One of the believers was threatened with initiation of a criminal case for \"involving children in illegal activities.\"\nArmen Hayriyan and Lyudmila Samoilova were searched. Spouses Andrey and Leysan Bochkarev were interrogated until late in the evening. Copies of protocols and other documents were not provided to anyone. The Bochkarevs, as well as 51-year-old Tatyana Obizhestvit, have been in a temporary detention center for the second day.\nOther details of the incident are being clarified.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-01-20T15:55:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/vtorzghenie%20v%20hmao_hu_24ad70e1aa0e2a2.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/vtorzghenie%20v%20hmao.jpg","webp":"/news/common/vtorzghenie%20v%20hmao_hu_f1aae88eb07ca8e5.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/vtorzghenie%20v%20hmao_hu_d2d4237a735db5c7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/01/12.html","regions":["tatarstan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","meetings-disruption","interrogation","elderly","minors"],"title":"Mass Detentions in Kazan: Department for Combating Organized Crime Finds Out Why People Aged 9 to 80 Read the Bible","type":"news"},{"body":"On September 23-25, 2019, a committee composed of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Council of Europe and overseeing the implementation of ECHR judgments \"urged the authorities to urgently take all necessary measures to ensure the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to practice their religion without hindrance.\"\nThe Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has examined the Russian Federation's compliance with the judgments in the cases of Jehovah's Witnesses of Moscow and Others v. Russia and Krupko and Others v. Russia. A document published on the website of the Council of Europe states: \"The Committee is concerned about information received from various sources that as a result of the new ban, Jehovah's Witnesses are being arrested, prosecuted and tried simply for participating in peaceful religious services and making donations.\"\nBackground to the case \"Jehovah's Witnesses of Moscow and Others v. Russia\". In March 2004, the Golovinsky Court of Moscow liquidated the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. The believers appealed this decision to the European Court of Human Rights and won. The court decided to lift the restrictions, re-register the community and pay tens of thousands of euros in compensation.\nBackground to the case of Krupko and Others v. Russia. In March 2006, about 400 believers gathered in a rented space for the annual celebration of the Memorial of the death of Jesus Christ. The worship service was disrupted - dozens of security officials, including a riot police, entered the building, ordered the crowd to disperse, and several men were detained. The believers appealed against these actions, first in local courts, and later in the ECHR. The European Court sided with Jehovah's Witnesses, found the disruption of worship and detention unlawful, and awarded the victims compensation for non-pecuniary damage and legal costs.\n","category":"rights","date":"2019-10-21T18:18:33+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_bef00bf20962b44e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_19500d295c944042.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_7061905fe753f9ea.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1268/image_hu_aac3c5ccb8a11a3f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1268.html","regions":["france","moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["echr","complaints","eu","mro","meetings-disruption"],"title":"The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe checked how Russia implements the judgments of the European Court on the complaints of Jehovah's Witnesses ","type":"news"},{"body":"Some cases of violation of the rights of believers that occurred in 2018 are published.\nOn January 21, 2018 , in Ilovaisk, two men disrupted a worship meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses. They knocked down a stand with a microphone, took away a smartphone and a tablet from two believers, and then beat several participants in the meeting, including a woman. The attackers threatened physical violence, said they were authorized to do so by the \"central church,\" and accused Jehovah's Witnesses of \"destroying the Orthodox faith.\" Children witnessed what was happening, they were very frightened. The believers called the police. The DPR security forces who arrived interviewed those present and promised to check whether Jehovah's Witnesses were a banned organization. The believers also tried to submit an application to the military commandant's office, but the document was not accepted there.\nOn February 22, 2018, in the village of United (Makiivka), a man beat up two women who were talking to people about the Bible. At the same time, the man insulted believers and threatened them with murder. One of the victims was a 60-year-old woman.\nOn March 19, 2018 , in the village of Bulavinskoye, unknown persons broke the window of the Kingdom Hall, entered and set fire. Several benches were burned, traces of autopsy attempts remained on the metal safe. Burnt matches, the contents of a first-aid kit and household chemicals were scattered throughout the room. Some of the equipment disappeared from the building. The arsonists left a note to the believers: \"You have 200,000 rubles and everything will be fine.\" Thefts have already been committed in this building - in October 2017. Then the DPR police refused to initiate a criminal case.\nOn April 12, 2018, in the village of Nizhnyaya Krynka, the DPR security forces came to the home of a 61-year-old local resident, Olga A. (not her real name). One of the employees hit an elderly woman in the kidney area. They took her phone, keys to the apartment and took her away for interrogation to the local police station. At the police station, the woman was insulted and beaten, and a gas mask was put on her to get a confession of theft (allegedly during a conversation on biblical topics, Olga stole money from one of the local residents). Olga was kept in the department for a day without food. The woman was released only after her acquaintances saw her through the window of the police station. At home, Olga discovered the loss of several tens of thousands of rubles that her relatives had previously sent her. According to those who have known Olga for many years, she has an impeccable reputation. Olga herself claims that she never talked with the allegedly robbed woman.\nOn September 5, 2018, in Shakhtersk, against the backdrop of a trial to ban the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, the DPR security forces summoned one of the believers for questioning about religious activities. Dmitry B. was summoned by phone, the caller introduced himself as a police officer and threatened with riot police in case of refusal to voluntarily appear. Dmitry B. arrived at the police station. He refused to talk about his religious activities, referring to Article 44 of the DPR Constitution, which allows him not to testify against himself. A high-ranking police officer tried to search him and convince him that he was misinterpreting the provisions of the Constitution. Dmitriy was kept in the police station for about 3 hours, after which he was released.\nOn December 19, 2018, in Snezhnoye, a group of 10 people, including presumably administrative staff, entered the Kingdom Hall and sealed all doors and windows.\"\n","category":"analytics","date":"2018-12-25T15:47:36+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/12/553/gorlovka_dnr147_hu_edba96866b5e05c4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/12/553/gorlovka_dnr147.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/12/553/gorlovka_dnr147_hu_40e0cf04053f2329.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/12/553/gorlovka_dnr147_hu_291489c4041c2c9f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/12/553.html","regions":["dnr"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["vandalism","meetings-disruption","review","siloviks-violence","minors","hatred-attacks","elderly","interrogation"],"title":"Violation of the rights of believers in a separate territory in the Donetsk region of Ukraine in 2018","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 10, 2017, in Nizhny Novgorod, a group of 15 law enforcement officers attended a service with the participation of about 100 Jehovah's Witnesses, which took place on Fuchik Street. The police immediately dispersed in the cloakroom, where one of the visitors put a brochure included in the list of extremist materials on a bench.\nThe believers warned the police about the inadmissibility of disrupting the service, but police captain (in civilian clothes) Igor Gorshkov walked with the whole group from the cloakroom to the Hall, where he demanded to stop reading the Bible, saying that otherwise it would be considered as disobedience and obstruction of the operational-investigative action!\nBelievers have no doubt that the intrusion of law enforcement officers was accompanied by a planting, because before the start of the service, they prudently inspected the building and clearly recorded in the \"Visual Inspection Report\" that there were no prohibited materials in it.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2017-02-14T17:24:19+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/02/97/planting-04247_hu_c52f95a2467eef61.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/02/97/planting-04247.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/02/97/planting-04247_hu_427af605b1c3bfec.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/02/97/planting-04247_hu_2e2bf73db380b43e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/02/97.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant"],"title":"In Nizhny Novgorod, law enforcement officers rudely disrupted a worship service. Planting a forbidden brochure","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 16, 2017, the Leninskiy District Court of Voronezh will consider an administrative case against a local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is wrongfully accused of failing to notify the authorities of a worship service that took place on October 9, 2016 in a rented sports complex on Voroshilov Street. On that day, the police raided the worship service with a search (pictured). Believers are convinced that the case should be dismissed in the absence of an event of an administrative offense.\nThe law does not require the authorities to be notified of prayer and religious meetings, which was finally clarified by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. In a ruling of December 5, 2012, the Constitutional Court, considering a complaint filed by the Commissioner for Human Rights on behalf of Jehovah's Witnesses, explained:\n\"The necessity to notify the authorized bodies of state power or bodies of local self-government of such a public religious event and to bear other encumbrances established by law by virtue of the mere fact that it is held outside the places specially designated for this purpose constitutes unlawful interference of the state in the sphere of freedom of conscience, guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and recognized by Article 9 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and unjustified restriction of the right to freedom of assembly, not conditioned by the goals specified in Articles 17 and 55 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as in paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. [...]\nLaw enforcers, including courts, when considering controversial issues regarding the need to notify public authorities of holding public religious events in places other than those specified in paragraphs 1-4 of Article 16 of the Federal Law \"On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations\", including when deciding on the application of administrative liability for non-compliance with this requirement, should be guided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and this The resolution and in any case not to apply the procedure for holding rallies, demonstrations and processions to prayer and religious meetings held in non-residential premises, if neither the content of the religious event itself, nor the location of the non-residential premises require public authorities to take measures aimed at ensuring public order, security and tranquility of citizens\" (Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation of 05.12.2012 No. 30-P).\n","category":"administrative","date":"2017-02-14T17:22:55+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/02/96/planting-11_0_hu_89deb51a1b50e533.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/02/96/planting-11_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/02/96/planting-11_0_hu_6a6c2224d66152cc.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/02/96/planting-11_0_hu_89fd52b2005041e6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/02/96.html","regions":["voronezh"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption"],"title":"Jehovah's Witnesses in Voronezh are unreasonably charged with a new violation","type":"news"},{"body":"On February 9, 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation considered an appeal against the liquidation of a local religious organization (LRO) of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan. The believers tried to prove to the court that the grounds for liquidation were grossly falsified. Unfortunately, the court ignored their arguments.\nHow was the evidence against the Birobidzhan LRO falsified?\nOn February 11, 2015, three police officers, as well as an FSB officer, interrupted a worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses in a rented room. During the search, they \"found\" someone neatly camouflaged publications included in the FSEM. (Witnesses interviewed later testified that a stranger had entered the room before the service began.) On this basis, the district court fined the chairman of the LRO 4,000 rubles. The prosecutor issued a warning to the LRO about the inadmissibility of repeated \"violation\" of the law within 12 months.\nOn October 18, 2015 , believers discovered that someone had again planted banned books in the premises they rented for worship. They hurried to dispose of these items, and a few minutes later, apparently not by chance, the same police officers entered the room to search, but, of course, they could not find anything forbidden.\nOn January 21, 2016, again, the same law enforcement officers, together with others, interrupted the worship service and announced a search for \"extremist materials.\" Clustered in a corner of the room, they said they had \"found\" a stack of banned publications. However, due to the inconsistency of their actions, it turned out that that corner had already been examined a few minutes earlier by other police officers, who did not find anything forbidden there. Moreover, one of the believers saw the same bundle of literature in the hands of law enforcement officers. The believers announced another forgery. However, the district court did not listen to the arguments of the believers and again imposed a fine of 3,000 rubles on the chairman of the LRO.\nAll appeals of believers to the prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee on the facts of these plantings were also completely ignored.\nOn October 3, 2016, it was on the basis of these fabricated \"facts\" allegedly confirming \"extremist activity\" that the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region, at the suit of the Department of Justice for the Jewish Autonomous Region, decided to liquidate the LRO and recognize it as \"extremist\".\nThis decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation does not mean a ban on the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan. Only a specific legal entity was liquidated, which included a little more than 10 Birobidzhan residents. The profession of faith by Jehovah's Witnesses is still legal throughout the Russian Federation thanks to Article 28 of the Russian Constitution, which has not undergone any changes. (Earlier, in a similar case of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the court, having sorted it out, issued a decision restoring justice for the Tyumen LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses.)\n","category":"verdict","date":"2017-02-09T13:49:28+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/02/94/supremecourt-02215_hu_6f94193f48413aef.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/02/94/supremecourt-02215.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/02/94/supremecourt-02215_hu_b4a658cdc4ba2873.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/02/94/supremecourt-02215_hu_f34d62b92cfde2a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/02/94.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["mro","liquidation","fabrications","analytics","meetings-disruption","plant"],"title":"The Supreme Court upheld the decision to liquidate the legal entity of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 20, 2016, Judge Alexander Kuryanov of the Leninsky District Court of Voronezh issued an order to suspend the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses for a period of 1.5 months for allegedly \"storing extremist materials.\" In fact, the lawyers presented to the court all the evidence that the brochures were planted on the believers.\nThe evidence was falsified on October 9, 2016, during a worship service held at the Voronezh sports complex on Voroshilov Street with the participation of 650 local Jehovah's Witnesses. On that day, referring to a call received about an alleged crime, the police invaded the worship service. Law enforcement officers began to look for \"extremist materials\" in a very unusual place - in the decorative colors with which the room was decorated. What was the surprise of believers when the police \"discovered\" hidden books included in the list of extremist materials (see photo). In addition, after passively examining several rows of believers, the police chose for inspection a package belonging to a stranger, which contained a book entered into the FSEM. The man, according to eyewitnesses, hastily left the hall just before the arrival of the police. In addition, several false witnesses appeared, who stated that they were independently in the building and were handed publications from the list of extremist materials. Although these people claimed that they did not know each other, however, video camera recordings show that before the start of the service, these people communicated with each other, took pictures together and checked their watches. Finally, the witnesses, as follows from the video, to a direct question from the lawyer, clearly confirm their interest in the outcome of the operational event.\nJehovah's Witnesses do not use materials that have been deemed \"extremist\" as a result of a series of miscarriages of justice. They strongly oppose any form of extremism that is deeply alien to their biblically based beliefs and morals. Believers consider the court's decision to be a very sad event.\n","category":"org","date":"2016-12-23T11:19:30+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/12/79/planting-11_hu_da03f0b670ce3056.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/12/79/planting-11.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/12/79/planting-11_hu_b1ff814d2983439b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/12/79/planting-11_hu_e219efd96c17c5a2.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/12/79.html","regions":["voronezh"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["fabrications","plant","meetings-disruption","fsem"],"title":"The court in Voronezh turned a blind eye to the obvious facts of falsification of evidence against Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 18, 2016, in Smolensk, about 15 armed riot policemen, investigators and police officers entered the Jehovah's Witnesses worship building on Pushkin Street while a service was being held there with the participation of about 60 believers. Law enforcement officers purposefully entered the toilet and pretended to find a brochure included in the list of extremist materials.\nThis is not the first time that Jehovah's Witnesses have had literature thrown into the toilet, as a month ago in the Nizhny Novgorod region.\nAt the same time, in Smolensk, a search was conducted in a private house where Jehovah's Witnesses live. Believers note that police officers behaved rudely, used force against women. When one of the believers seriously deteriorated his health, the police, under the threat of force, prevented the emergency medical service from being called for a long time.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-12-19T17:13:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/12/76/kollazh_hu_c3f4338e86a18055.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/12/76/kollazh.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/12/76/kollazh_hu_2d793ad4114ee892.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/12/76/kollazh_hu_8909f2214e952548.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/12/76.html","regions":["smolensk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","search","health-risk"],"title":"In Smolensk, Police Planted a Banned Brochure on Jehovah's Witnesses in the Toilet","type":"news"},{"body":"On December 17, 2016, approximately 15 people came to the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses on Poselkovaya Street in Sochi, led by Police Major S. A. Matsko. Police officers, as well as people in Cossack uniforms, blocked all the doors in the building.\nLaw enforcement officers insisted on the expulsion of believers from the hall, leaving only two. As a result, believers, deprived of the opportunity to control the actions of a group of operatives, were planted with a printed publication included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials.\nIn addition to the fact that this outrageous forgery was committed, the police disrupted the services of two Sochi communities of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is noteworthy that one of the \"witnesses\" who came with the police helped knock out the gate into the courtyard of the liturgical building. Six months ago, the same witnesses were seen searching the apartment of Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-12-19T16:16:50+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/12/75/planting-01_0_hu_4e3c9539bf236ac7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/12/75/planting-01_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/12/75/planting-01_0_hu_6040977556c61772.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/12/75/planting-01_0_hu_62d4767538f77ccd.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/12/75.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","fabrications","fsem","vandalism"],"title":"In Sochi, Authorities Planted a Prohibited Item on Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"About 15 armed riot police, investigators, and police officers entered the Jehovah's Witnesses worship building on Pushkin Street in Smolensk while a service was being held there with about 60 believers. Law enforcement officers purposefully go to the toilet and pretend to have found a brochure included in the list of extremist materials. (By that time, evidence had already accumulated that law enforcement officers and persons cooperating with them systematically planted prohibited items on believers.)\n","caseTitle":"Case of Shalev and Others in Smolensk","date":"2016-12-18T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/smolensk2/index.html#20161218","regions":["smolensk"],"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","search"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On December 14, 2016, in order to falsify evidence, three strangers entered a worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses in Tula. Two of them brought with them books included in the list of extremist materials.\nIn the middle of the service, police officers entered the hall. The video shows that two strangers (see photo) quickly leave the building, and prohibited books remain in their places, which the police immediately pay attention to. A third stranger (pictured right), allegedly unrelated to the other two, stays and gives the police detailed explanations, on the basis of which a protocol is drawn up, supposedly on behalf of the parishioner.\nThis is already a well-established scheme, according to which law enforcement agencies achieved a ban on several local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses. Fortunately, in some cases , the courts see that the evidence against Jehovah's Witnesses is falsified and refuse to impose sanctions on believers.\nJehovah's Witnesses are outraged by the unscrupulous actions of the police and their accomplices.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-12-16T14:47:25+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/12/74/planting-09_0_hu_f77302a4cb9453.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/12/74/planting-09_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/12/74/planting-09_0_hu_ac1e0c875880922b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/12/74/planting-09_0_hu_b562f038ac9db4f6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/12/74.html","regions":["tula"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","fsem","fabrications"],"title":"Outrageous planting of banned publications in Tula. New details","type":"news"},{"body":"On the evening of December 14, 2016, two men entered the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses on Karl Marx Street in Tula. They planted several books on the believers included in the list of extremist materials. At the same time, about 10 law enforcement officers entered the hall, including Grigory Nikolaev, an employee of the center for countering extremism. The security forces pretended that they had accidentally discovered banned books and drew up a protocol on an administrative offense, which could ultimately threaten catastrophic consequences for the freedom of religion of local Jehovah's Witnesses.\nAs a result of the invasion, worship had to be stopped. Believers are outraged by the unscrupulous actions of the police and their accomplices.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-12-15T16:07:48+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/12/73/planting-03_0_hu_824d80d3ea54d356.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/12/73/planting-03_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/12/73/planting-03_0_hu_bbeb57b9d3edeaeb.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/12/73/planting-03_0_hu_4bba0a2724ddd2e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/12/73.html","regions":["tula"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","fabrications","fsem"],"title":"In Tula, Law Enforcement Officers Planted Banned Books on Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On the evening of November 29, 2016, in the town of Ozyory, Moscow Region, about 10 police and FSB officers, as well as witnesses, entered the building where the worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses began with the participation of about 100 people.\nWithin 2 hours, an inspection was carried out, in fact, a search, of the premises, and explanations were taken from several dozen of those present under the protocol. Religious texts and instructions for the maintenance of the building were seized from believers. Law enforcement officers behaved correctly, as a result of the invasion, nothing illegal was found, but the service was disrupted.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-12-02T11:09:18+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/12/70/planting-04_hu_c52f95a2467eef61.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/12/70/planting-04.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/12/70/planting-04_hu_427af605b1c3bfec.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/12/70/planting-04_hu_2e2bf73db380b43e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/12/70.html","regions":["moscow_obl"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","meetings-disruption","inspection"],"title":"Law enforcement officers disrupted a worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Moscow region","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 13, 2016 in the village. Priyutovo (Bashkortostan) Men with machine guns, masks and sportswear blocked the entrance to the city house of culture, where the service of Jehovah's Witnesses, coordinated with the authorities, began with the participation of 600 believers who came from different cities of the republic. The service was disrupted.\nSeveral hundred believers, including children and the elderly, were blocked inside, the second group remained in complete bewilderment in the cold outside. There was no explanation from the officials, only by phone an employee of the police on duty said that \"anti-terrorist exercises\" organized by the FSB were taking place in the house of culture.\nBelievers consider the actions of law enforcement officers to be a deliberate disruption of their worship services. They intend to appeal these actions to various authorities.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-11-22T16:35:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/11/66/priutovo-03_hu_9677b685a5d13383.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/11/66/priutovo-03.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/11/66/priutovo-03_hu_22e1f05225cd085f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/11/66/priutovo-03_hu_9e89b3ba11e869ba.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/11/66.html","regions":["bashkortostan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","meetings-disruption"],"title":"In Bashkiria, Security Forces Disrupted a Major Worship Service of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 19, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. in Novosibirsk, several law enforcement officers came to the service of Jehovah's Witnesses on Ruzheynaya Street, who examined the service for an hour, which actually disrupted the service. The believers were outraged by the fact that a black bag with a brochure and a book submitted to the FSEM was planted in the cloakroom. The publications were seized along with several Chinese-language Bibles.\nSince admission to the services of Jehovah's Witnesses is free, even before the start of the meeting, a stranger was seen among those present, whom the believers identified as a law enforcement officer. Jehovah's Witnesses have already faced dozens of plantings, some of which were recorded on video.\nJehovah's Witnesses do not use materials that have been deemed \"extremist\" as a result of a series of miscarriages of justice. They strongly oppose any form of extremism that is deeply alien to their biblically based beliefs and morals.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-11-21T16:02:41+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/11/65/planting-06_0_hu_cbbea508320a5344.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/11/65/planting-06_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/11/65/planting-06_0_hu_81d57942b41e280b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/11/65/planting-06_0_hu_363cf9b71c0a34ae.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/11/65.html","regions":["novosibirsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","search","plant","fsem"],"title":"In Siberia, the security forces invaded Jehovah's Witnesses. Banned materials planted","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 30, 2016, in the village of Kalininskaya (Krasnodar Territory), police officers prevented the disruption of a major worship service attended by more than 1,600 Jehovah's Witnesses. The coordinated actions of the police were reported by the stanitsa newspaper.\nUnfriendly citizens gathered near the place of worship. As the newspaper \"Kalininets\" noted, one of the leaders of the Cossacks, in the presence of the younger generation of Cossacks, disobeyed police officers who were guarding public order. As a result, he was prosecuted and pleaded guilty in court. The newspaper cites the words of Lieutenant Colonel V. Tretyakov, who, on behalf of the leadership of the Department of Internal Affairs, \"appeals to the leaders of the Kalinin District Cossack Society to prevent such violations in the future and points to the perniciousness of educating young people not in the legal field.\"\nJehovah's Witnesses are grateful to the police for their work in promoting peace between people of different nations, cultures, and religions that have inhabited the Kuban region for centuries.\n","category":"crime","date":"2016-11-18T16:35:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/11/64/kalininets-01_hu_aefaa3d7f46e1bea.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/11/64/kalininets-01.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/11/64/kalininets-01_hu_9145d7311e8da2aa.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/11/64/kalininets-01_hu_a624955134953a71.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/11/64.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["conventions","meetings-disruption"],"title":"In the Krasnodar Territory, the police protected the worship service from disruption","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 16, 2016, in Gelendzhik (Krasnodar region), operatives came to the building of Jehovah's Witnesses on Vasnetsov Street. This happened before the start of the service, when there were several people, men and women, in the building. The service was disrupted, later no one was allowed into the building and was not released, it was cordoned off by representatives of the Cossacks. Those who came planted printed publications from the FSEM to the believers, which greatly outraged the believers.\nAt the same time, searches were conducted in two more houses where Jehovah's Witnesses live. Office equipment and a personal spiritual library were seized.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-11-16T16:05:20+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/11/62/planting-02_0_hu_6884b4c2135fb4c1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/11/62/planting-02_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/11/62/planting-02_0_hu_ad11cfc3be0e8709.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/11/62/planting-02_0_hu_67fa979063f49843.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/11/62.html","regions":["krasnodar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","search","plant","fsem"],"title":"In Gelendzhik, a search of Jehovah's Witnesses in a cordon of representatives of the Cossacks","type":"news"},{"body":"It became known that on November 13, 2016, simultaneously with the raid by law enforcement officers on Jehovah's Witnesses in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, police and prosecutors came to worship this religion in the city of Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka Territory). About 20 law enforcement officers with weapons entered the hall on Mira Street, where about 100 believers were meeting, and began to obstruct the practice of their religion with loud demands.\nThe believers persuaded those who came to wait for the end of the service. After that, within 5 hours, law enforcement officers copied the passport data of the majority of those present, as well as searched and seized audio equipment, computers, video discs with Bible recordings in sign language for the deaf, as well as printed publications. Believers report that by their actions police officers frightened law-abiding believers, especially the elderly and children.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-11-15T17:09:36+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/11/61/police-01_1_hu_f3ef7eeda4ab78c3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/11/61/police-01_1.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/11/61/police-01_1_hu_866c87b03e0dcc36.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/11/61/police-01_1_hu_71e88a92e6a29efb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/11/61.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","meetings-disruption"],"title":"In Kamchatka, another invasion of Jehovah's Witnesses by security forces","type":"news"},{"body":"On November 13, 2016, in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, two armed masked operatives broke a window and entered a residential building on Kavkazskaya Street, where about 100 local believers were holding a service. Ignoring the owner's demands, masked men opened the door from the inside and let in about 20 law enforcement officers, including Assistant Prosecutor of the Kamchatka Territory Anton Uvarov and Police Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Kurdenkov. Without presenting any orders, those who came interviewed and copied the data of believers, and also conducted a search, during which one of those present needed emergency assistance and was hospitalized.\nExplaining his actions, Uvarov, an employee of the prosecutor's office, said that \"there are a large number of people on the territory of the building, which means that signs of extremist activity can be seen.\" During the search, the police used a crowbar to open some rooms. Audio equipment and CDs that were planted near the broken window were seized.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-11-14T17:02:04+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/11/56/police-03_hu_b95076d94ad70556.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/11/56/police-03.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/11/56/police-03_hu_eb33a8e7112a6cdf.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/11/56/police-03_hu_1463b4b2c0b5310d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/11/56.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","search"],"title":"In Kamchatka, law enforcement officers invaded the worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses through a broken window","type":"news"},{"body":"Dzerzhinsk (Nizhny Novgorod region). On the evening of November 8, 2016, shortly before the start of the worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses, Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Natalia Sukhova, accompanied by an inspector of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and plainclothes officers, entered their building under the pretext of a fire inspection. Later, a police squad arrived.\nA plainclothes officer quietly entered the toilet for people with disabilities. After leaving there, he stated that in the toilet there were two religious brochures included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials (FSEM). Since there were no brochures in the building before the arrival of the security forces, and Jehovah's Witnesses do not keep religious literature in the toilet, the believers resolutely stated that \"this is a planting and provocation on the part of those who came.\" The planned worship service was disrupted.\nJehovah's Witnesses strongly object to labelling them \"extremists,\" emphasizing that extremism is deeply alien to their biblically based views and morals. They do not use literature from the FSEM and do not allow it to appear in worship buildings.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-11-10T17:01:37+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/11/55/planting-05_0_hu_2a41a08a7ec1d3e4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/11/55/planting-05_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/11/55/planting-05_0_hu_25d269ab2e4b8c57.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/11/55/planting-05_0_hu_23d8d1b2abca29a3.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/11/55.html","regions":["nizhegorod"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","fsem"],"title":"Security forces planted religious books in the toilet for Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 23, 2016, in Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk Region, 15 minutes after the start of the service, law enforcement officers arrived at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Referring to a \"received message\", they said that the building could contain weapons and extremist literature. Since the law enforcement officers did not have a search warrant, the believers let them into the building only under threat of force. During the search, law enforcement officers seized a laptop used to play liturgical music. Brochures submitted to the FSEM were planted and \"discovered\". The weapon, as expected, was not found.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-10-24T17:15:39+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/10/50/planting-02_hu_6884b4c2135fb4c1.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/10/50/planting-02.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/10/50/planting-02_hu_ad11cfc3be0e8709.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/10/50/planting-02_hu_67fa979063f49843.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/10/50.html","regions":["murmansk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","fsem"],"title":"Law enforcement officers disrupted the Sunday service of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Murmansk region","type":"news"},{"body":"On October 11, 2016, at least 25 law enforcement officers disrupted a worship service of one of the Jehovah's Witnesses communities in St. Petersburg. The Kingdom Hall on Luzhskaya Street was searched until the ceiling was opened. Many of the men were taken to police stations and the Investigative Committee. Bibles, electronic tablets, and telephones were seized from believers without proper registration. Minors were interrogated. The believers intend to appeal against the actions of law enforcement officers.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-10-12T14:33:13+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/10/49/police-01_0_hu_f3ef7eeda4ab78c3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/10/49/police-01_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/10/49/police-01_0_hu_866c87b03e0dcc36.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/10/49/police-01_0_hu_71e88a92e6a29efb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/10/49.html","regions":["stpetersburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","meetings-disruption","interrogation","minors"],"title":"In St. Petersburg, police and investigators disrupted a worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"On the evening of July 28, 2016, law enforcement officers armed with machine guns, including the FSB and riot police, came to the worship buildings of Jehovah's Witnesses in Petrozavodsk and Kostomuksha.\nIn Petrozavodsk at that time, a service was held with the participation of dozens of local believers. Phones and other electronic devices were seized from those present. Some of the believers were roughly knocked to the floor by law enforcement officers, pressed with their knees, and kicked. Believers were asked questions, documents were checked. The last detainee was released well after midnight. Several printed publications included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials (FSEM) were planted.\nAt the worship building in Kostomuksha, the visitors planted two copies of printed materials included in the FSEM, as well as, unusually, the original passport of a man who had not attended Jehovah's Witnesses services, but it is known that his relatives had previously opposed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The purpose of planting this document is unknown.\nAs for the planting of printed materials, this has become a widespread practice of unscrupulous law enforcement officers. The \"discovered\" materials serve as the basis for initiating administrative cases with a view to the subsequent liquidation of the registered community and recognizing it as \"extremist\".\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-07-29T14:00:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/07/39/police-01_hu_f3ef7eeda4ab78c3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/07/39/police-01.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/07/39/police-01_hu_866c87b03e0dcc36.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/07/39/police-01_hu_71e88a92e6a29efb.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/07/39.html","regions":["karelia"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","siloviks-violence","plant"],"title":"In two cities of Karelia, a violent action against peaceful Christians took place simultaneously","type":"news"},{"body":"On July 2, 2016, law enforcement officers came to a religious meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses in Alushta. They interrupted the service and \"seized\" a bag of Watchtower magazines from a stranger who was present in the room at the time.\nThe disruption of worship services is an extraordinary event and a serious violation of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as the European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of Kuznetsov v. the Russian Federation (2007) and then reiterated in the judgment in the case of Krupko v. the Russian Federation (2014).\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-07-04T14:00:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/07/16/planting-01_hu_4e3c9539bf236ac7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/07/16/planting-01.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/07/16/planting-01_hu_6040977556c61772.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/07/16/planting-01_hu_62d4767538f77ccd.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/07/16.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","echr","plant"],"title":"In Crimea, Jehovah's Witnesses Again Planted Banned Materials and Disrupted Worship Services","type":"news"},{"body":"On March 27, 2016, about 10 officers from the Center for Religious Activity and the FSB broke into the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses in Prokhladny, Kabardino-Balkaria, where a service was being held with the participation of more than 70 believers. The participants were not allowed to record the inspection of the premises, expelling them from the building. When the first floor of the building was at the disposal of law enforcement officers, they announced the \"discovery\" of materials submitted to the FSEM. Since the believers conduct a regular thorough inspection of the building, recording the absence of any prohibited items in it, they are sure that the materials included in the FSEM were planted by them.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-05-18T14:00:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/05/19/planting-06_hu_cbbea508320a5344.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/05/19/planting-06.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/05/19/planting-06_hu_81d57942b41e280b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/05/19/planting-06_hu_363cf9b71c0a34ae.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/05/19.html","regions":["kabardino-balkar"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant","fsem","hatred-attacks"],"title":"Planting prohibited items in the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses in Prokhladny","type":"news"},{"body":"On January 26, 2016, in the center of Birobidzhan, about 15 people, some with weapons and masks, interrupted a worship service held by 150 Jehovah's Witnesses in a hall rented by one of the believers. Without presenting a warrant, police officers and the FSB Directorate for the Jewish Autonomous Region inspected the premises and \"found\" a package with materials included in the list of extremist materials. The believers have evidence that the package was brought and planted near the entrance to the hall, and they intend to appeal against the actions of the officials. In recent years, planting tactics have become widespread in relation to Jehovah's Witnesses communities throughout Russia. In Birobidzhan, a similar incident took place on October 8, 2015.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-02-05T14:00:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/02/32/police-05_hu_47c8e02b75fdf5e4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/02/32/police-05.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/02/32/police-05_hu_731d039749fa89cc.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/02/32/police-05_hu_8601e41d687516ef.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/02/32.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","plant"],"title":"New disruption of worship services and planting of extremist materials in Birobidzhan","type":"news"},{"body":"In January 2016, a complaint was sent to the Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region in connection with the gross disruption of the worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses that occurred on October 8, 2015 in the center of Birobidzhan. On that day, believers who came to the rented premises before the start of the meeting found that someone had planted several publications included in the list of extremist materials in an empty box. They hurried to destroy the publications, and within 15 minutes a group of 8 police officers arrived, who, without any warrant, canceled the service and inspected the premises. Of course, no extremist materials were found. The believers filed a collective complaint against these actions. The Birobidzhan District Court rejected it, and the believers hope that a higher court will satisfy their appeal.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2016-02-04T14:00:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/02/33/planting-07_hu_1d7b9c43491d4e2b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/02/33/planting-07.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/02/33/planting-07_hu_7ad6bb731b4dee6a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/02/33/planting-07_hu_1682d5b3ab57557b.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/02/33.html","regions":["jewish"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["meetings-disruption","complaints","inspection"],"title":"Jehovah's Witnesses Complain Against the Actions of Police Officers in the Jewish Autonomous Region","type":"news"}]