[{"body":"Criminal investigation officers come to Ilya Yershov's home and take him to the police station. There he is informed that he is wanted because he allegedly stopped \"getting in touch\" with the investigator of the Investigative Committee, does not live by registration, does not appear on summonses. According to Yershov, he has not received any calls or summonses from the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Kurgan Region, and he lives at his former place of registration.\nThen the man is photographed, fingerprints are checked, sneaker prints are photographed, biomaterial is taken and taken to the Investigative Committee, where he is summoned to report.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Yershov in Shadrinsk","date":"2025-01-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shadrinsk2/index.html#20250114","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["interrogation","summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"On the morning of October 17, 2022, searches were carried out in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky at four addresses of Jehovah's Witnesses and their relatives. A criminal case has been opened under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nThe criminal case was opened by the investigator for especially important cases D. M. Petukhov on September 25, 2022. At one of the families, the security forces searched not only the apartment, but also the car. They seized electronic devices, storage media, money and personal records. Law enforcement officers took another believer straight from work and took him to the Investigative Committee for interrogation. After searches and interrogations, the believers were released on a pledge to appear.\nNow, in the Kamchatka Territory, 8 believers have already faced criminal prosecution for their faith. Three of them were acquitted, two received a fine, and one received a suspended sentence. Soon, the verdict will be announced to the Semyonov spouses from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-10-17T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_a8c404e2bc8d351e.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_314afd7539e86e80.jpg","webp":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_2ad7449984257986.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/criminal_case_hu_34a0012c7c562f22.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/10/180943.html","regions":["kamchatka"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","new-case","282.2-1","summon"],"title":"In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Jehovah's Witnesses Were Searched. Criminal Case Initiated","type":"news"},{"body":"Early in the morning on June 16, 2022, Andrey Bolotov, 38, was detained on the street of Kopeysk and taken to his home for a search.\nAt the door of Bolotov's apartment, 8 more people were met, three of whom were armed. Law enforcement officers seized a laptop, CDs, flash drives, smartphones. After the search, Andrey Bolotov and his wife were taken to the building of the Investigative Committee for the Chelyabinsk Region for interrogation, and then released, with an obligation to appear.\nThe event was led by investigator Aleksandr Chepenko, who had previously initiated criminal prosecution of other believers in the region. On June 8, 2022, he opened another criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization), under which the Bolotovs were searched.\nThis is the tenth criminal case against believers in the Chelyabinsk region.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2022-06-16T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_a3b2ced771142e34.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_ec173bd2c80c730f.jpg","webp":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_613284c7a1a776c5.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/23218813626_a65dd88831_o_hu_7959300de005eb5f.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/06/221426.html","regions":["chelyabinsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","interrogation","summon","new-case","282.2-1"],"title":"In the Chelyabinsk Region, Security Forces Searched the Home of a Family of Jehovah’s Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"Vladimir Balabkin is being interrogated as a suspect. He is charged with committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. A measure of restraint is chosen for the believer in the form of an obligation to appear.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Balabkin in Belogorsk","date":"2022-06-14T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/belogorsk/index.html#20220614","regions":["amur"],"tags":["summon","interrogation","282.2-1"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The measure of restraint - the obligation to appear (to appear in a timely manner at the summons of the court at the court session, and in case of a change of place of residence, place of stay or location, immediately inform the court about it) - is elected to Aleksandr Miroshnichenko and Eldar Mammadov.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Khvostov and Others in Sharypovo","date":"2021-12-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/sharypovo2/index.html#20211210","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"At 6 o'clock in the morning, investigator Zorina issues a decision to search the 63-year-old resident of Prokopyevsk, Pavel Brilkov. At about 8:00 a.m., the senior investigator of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee Kuzmina comes to his home to carry out investigative actions.\nAlso, a search is taking place at 46-year-old Yuri Chernykh, the father of a minor child. This is the second search in the Chernoy family. Previously, Brilkov and Chernykh were witnesses in the case of Andrei Vlasov. Now the investigation imputes these men to participate in the activities of a banned organization.\nInvestigator Zorin interrogates Yuri Chernykh. He uses Article 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which gives him the right not to testify against himself and his loved ones. The investigator hands over to the believer the decision to initiate criminal case No. 12102320012000120 against him. Yuriy is obliged to appear. The investigator is also questioning Pavel Brilkov and his wife. Believers also use Article 51 of the Constitution.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Vlasov in Prokopyevsk","date":"2021-11-10T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/prokopevsk/index.html#20211110","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["search","interrogation","summon","elderly"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The investigator of the Investigative Directorate for the city of Novokuznetsk of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Kemerovo Region, P.V. Nekhoroshev chooses a measure of restraint for Sushilnikov in the form of an obligation to appear.\n","caseTitle":"Sushilnikov case in Novokuznetsk","date":"2021-06-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/novokuznetsk/index.html#20210608","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"During the raid in Kerch on May 26, 2020, law enforcement officers kept the 29-year-old father of two young children, Artyom Shabliy, undressed for several hours in the cold, resulting in his illness. His 4-year-old son cut his legs on shatters from the windows broken by the law enforcers. In total 5 houses of believers were searched that day.\nOn May 26th, 2020 at 6 a.m. investigator for especially important cases V. Zarubin initiated a criminal case against Artem Shabliy under part 1.1. of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code. One hour later, a group of 10 armed men stormed his house, breaking a gate and window panes.\nThe believer was handcuffed and placed on a cold, damp floor, threatening to use a stun gun. Artyom was not allowed to stand up for a long time, although he did not resist. During the 3-hour search, the believer, wearing only underwear, stood facing the wall and was handcuffed. Because of the broken windows and open doors in the house, the believer fell ill - that morning the temperature outside ranged between 13 and 16 degrees Celsius.\nThe young children of Artyom suffered - the older 4-year-old son cut his legs on the glass, dotted the floor. The security forces confiscated a computer, phones, literature, documents, postcards mentioning the name of Jehovah God.\nA window broken by security forces in the house of Artem Shabliy during the assault. Kerch. May 26, 2020. After Artyom had been searched, he was taken to the Investigation Department. There, he stood in the corridor for two hours waiting for interrogation. Artyom's handcuffs were only taken off in the investigator's office. One of the law enforcers put pressure on him, saying: \"It’s Armageddon for you! I'll baptize you by eight years of imprisonment. You're going to plant trees in a joint and tailor my uniform.\"\nThe investigator, Major of Justice Valery Zarubin, processed the administrative detention for two days against Artyom and sent him to the detention center. The believer was locked in a cold, dirty room measuring 1 by 2 meters, with no furniture. Artyom had to stand again until two hours later he was given a mattress, a dirty pillow, a short sheet and a blanket.\nArtyom was not allowed to make a legal call to his family. All this time, no water or food was given to the believer. It was only at 18:00 that Artyom ate what his wife had brought him for the first time in a day. The isolation cell also had no technical water until 11:00 the next day until he was transferred to another room.\nThe next day, the investigation continued. Zarubin insisted that Artyom plead guilty. He refused Shabliy's requests to replace the investigator and the lawyer. From the detention center, where Artyom spent two days, he was released under an obligation to appear. At the exit from the detention center facility, the believer felt ill and had to call an ambulance. Without waiting for the doctors, his friends took Artyom to the hospital, where he was examined. The believer filed a complaint with the law enforcement agencies about the illegal actions of law enforcement officers.\nIt is noteworthy that the criminal prosecution of Artyom Shabliy started after a statement by an Igor Dukhanin. Earlier a man with the same name initiated conversations with Jehovah's Witnesses in Kerch, portraying his interest in the Bible. According to the Crimean Prosecutor's Office, in 2015 a local resident with such name and surname was sentenced to 2.5 years conditionally for extremist activities - distribution of leaflets inciting national hatred.\nLaw-enforcement agencies of Ukraine became interested in violation of the rights of believers in Kerch and a criminal case was initiated on the fact of illegal searches.\n","category":"siloviki","date":"2020-06-10T17:20:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_d47978800fa5e21b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut.jpg","webp":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_e7e36e7e158e908a.webp","webp2x":"/news/common/invasion-surgut_hu_28a0fe43c2e78d82.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/06/9.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","health-risk","torture","minors","siloviks-violence","new-case","282.2-1.1","interrogation","ivs","torture-conditions","summon"],"title":"\"It Is Armageddon For You!\" After a Provocateur's Denunciation, the Kerch Law Enforcers Kept a Believer Undressed for Three Hours in the Cold","type":"news"},{"body":"The believers were notified of the end of the investigation and given an indictment. The measure of procedural coercion remained the same - the obligation to appear. There are still no victims in the case.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Baranovskiy in Abakan","date":"2020-06-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan/index.html#20200608","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator O. M. Ermakova interrogates Alexei Baikalov and Irina Sidorova. The believers do not admit their guilt and say that they have never been engaged in extremist activities. Baikalov undertakes an obligation to appear.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Vergunov and Others in Abakan","date":"2020-05-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan2/index.html#20200522","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["interrogation","summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Investigator Olesya Ermakova interrogates Alexei Baikalov and Irina Sidorova. The believers do not admit their guilt and say that they have never been engaged in extremist activities. From Baikalov is taken the obligation to appear.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Baykalov and Others in Abakan","date":"2020-05-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan3/index.html#20200522","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["interrogation","summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice O. M. Ermakova, an investigator for the Department of Internal Affairs of the Investigative Committee for the city of Abakan of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, interrogates Pyotr Bozykov and Alexander Vergunov, suspected of extremism for their faith. They are obliged to appear in a timely manner when summoned by a person conducting an initial inquiry, an investigator or to a court, and in the event of a change of residence, to report it immediately.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Vergunov and Others in Abakan","date":"2020-05-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan2/index.html#20200519","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["interrogation","summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Lieutenant Colonel of Justice Olesya Ermakova, an investigator for particularly important cases of the Investigative Department for the city of Abakan of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, interrogates Pyotr Bozykov and Alexander Vergunov, suspected of extremism for their faith. They are obliged to appear in a timely manner when summoned by a person conducting an initial inquiry, an investigator or to a court, and in the event of a change of residence, to report it immediately.\n","caseTitle":"The case of Baykalov and Others in Abakan","date":"2020-05-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/abakan3/index.html#20200519","regions":["khakassia"],"tags":["interrogation","summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"An obligation to appear was received from Bektemirova Gaukhar.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2019-07-01T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20190701","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"With Dyusekeyeva Dinara, an obligation to appear was received.\n","caseTitle":"Case of the Polyakovs and Others in Omsk","date":"2019-06-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/omsk2/index.html#20190628","regions":["omsk"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"As of May 24, 2019, 43 women and 157 men across Russia are facing criminal prosecution in connection with the ban imposed on Jehovah's Witnesses organizations in 2017. Exactly half of the victims - 100 people - were sent to Russian prisons. There are 132 people in the status of \"accused\", 64 people as \"suspect\", 3 people as \"defendant\" and 1 person as \"convicted\" (sentenced to 6 years in prison). The following are the main facts and figures.\nAge. 34 people are over 60 years old, 8 people are over 70. The youngest of those who suffer for their faith is 19, the oldest is 85. Many have adult or minor children.\nActivities. All victims of criminal prosecution are ordinary working people, pensioners, entrepreneurs. Some work as drivers, builders, welders, among them there is at least one agronomist, hydrologist, miner, BelAZ driver, mining excavator driver, railroad worker, stove bricklayer, design engineer, poster artist, portrait photographer, system administrator, deputy general director of an energy company, systems engineer in a hospital, translator from Chinese and many others.\nChosen measure of restraint. 32 people are being held in prisons (the remaining 68 preventive measures have been mitigated), 25 people are under house arrest, 14 people are under a ban on certain actions, 74 people have been recognized not to leave, 4 people have given an obligation to appear. 2 people were taken into custody in absentia and are wanted.\nGeography of persecution for faith. Criminal cases for faith have been initiated in 38 regions of Russia, namely: Amur, Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Volgograd, Ivanovo, Kemerovo, Kirov, Kostroma, Magadan, Murmansk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Orel, Penza, Penza, Pskov, Rostov, Saratov, Sakhalin, Sverdlovsk, Smolensk, Tomsk, Ulyanovsk regions; Kamchatka, Krasnoyarsk, Perm, Primorsky, Stavropol, Khabarovsk Territories; the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria, Bashkortostan, Crimea, Mordovia, Sakha (Yakutia), Tatarstan, Khakassia; Jewish Autonomous Region and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.\nWho is not included in the statistics? This list does not include those who have been searched, who have been and are being monitored, who have eavesdropping or spying devices in their homes, but have not been charged. For 2 years, more than 430 searches have been carried out in the homes of believers in Russia. A search turns an innocent person's life into a nightmare, undermines his health, causes deep emotional trauma and casts a shadow on his reputation in the eyes of neighbors, employers and others. How people feel when they are raided and their loved ones are imprisoned is described in the videos \"Ruthless Searches and Arrests of Believers in Kirov\", \"Arrests of Believers Throughout Russia\" and \"Dzhankoy After the Raid: How Persecution Cripples the Lives of Believers\".\nThe two hundredth was Alexander Parkov, arrested for his faith during a special operation on May 22, 2019 in Rostov-on-Don.\nLaw enforcement officers inappropriately call the religion of citizens participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, as well as international organizations - the foreign policy service of the European Union, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - drew attention to this problem . Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. 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.\"\nThe actions of law enforcement agencies create all the prerequisites for the list of those persecuted for their faith to be replenished. Information about most of them can be found in the \"Prisoners of Conscience\" section of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia website.\n","category":"analytics","date":"2019-05-24T16:42:05+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/05/878/allprisoners_hu_9180fc64711438f5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/05/878/allprisoners_hu_a81b2debc1167ec6.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/05/878/allprisoners_hu_4a2701ebb8bf028a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/05/878/allprisoners_hu_80a8bb9ea83176c8.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/05/878.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["review","analytics","statistics","elderly","liberty-deprivation","house-arrest","recognizance-agreement","summon","prohibition-of-actions"],"title":"The number of Jehovah's Witnesses under criminal prosecution has reached 200","type":"news"},{"body":"Khabarov and Komissarov were summoned for questioning at the FSB of the city of Pskov. Both have an obligation to appear. The investigator insists that the believers inform her about their movements.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Khabarov in Porkhov","date":"2019-05-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/porkhov/index.html#20190522","regions":["pskov"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Khabarov and Komissarov were summoned for questioning at the FSB of the city of Pskov. Both have an obligation to appear. The investigator insists that the believers inform her about their movements.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Komissarov in Porkhov","date":"2019-05-22T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/porkhov2/index.html#20190522","regions":["pskov"],"tags":["interrogation","summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Sergey Ledenyov is obliged to appear.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ledenyov in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy","date":"2018-12-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/petropavlovsk-kamchatskiy/index.html#20181220","regions":["kamchatka"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"Ivashin is assigned a measure of procedural coercion in the form of an obligation to appear.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Ivashin in Lensk","date":"2018-10-09T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/lensk/index.html#20181009","regions":["sakha"],"tags":["summon"],"type":"timeline"}]