[{"body":"About 50 people attend the hearing. The defense files a motion to release all six defendants from custody and to return the case to the prosecutor. The lawyer refers to the opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention No. 30/2026 dated March 30, 2026, which found the detention of the believers to be unlawful. In the judge's view, this opinion does not oblige the Kstovo City Court to take any action.\nFedor Dorofeev, religious scholar, associate professor of the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of Nizhny Novgorod State University, is questioned. In his expert study, he claimed that the believers in the video recordings were a structural subdivision of the banned organization. He is unable to substantiate his conclusion before the court and explains that he meant \"organization in the religious studies sense, not the legal sense.\" When asked a clarifying question, he responds: \"If two Jehovah's Witnesses gather together, that is already an organization.\" The defense files a motion to disqualify him, but the court denies it.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Anufriev and Others in Kstovo","date":"2026-07-21T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kstovo/index.html#20260721","regions":["nizhegorod"],"tags":["first-instance","interrogation","un-working-group","studies-violations"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"\n","date":"2026-05-28T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/docs/650.html","regions":["switzerland"],"tags":["un-working-group","international-community","international"],"title":"Opinions Adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at Its 105th Session, March 23–April 1, 2026","type":"docs"},{"body":"Unlawful deprivation of liberty, criminal prosecution for peaceful practice of religion, and discriminatory persecution on religious grounds — these violations were documented by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention regarding 26 Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses. The relevant opinion was adopted by the body on March 30, 2026.\nThe full text of the opinion in English is available on the official website. A Russian translation is also available. The case covers events from 2018 to 2025 and concerns 19 men and 7 women from Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Kstovo (Nizhny Novgorod Region), Birobidzhan, Konakovo (Tver Region), Prokopyevsk (Kemerovo Region), Rubtsovsk (Altai Territory), Kostroma, Moscow, Astrakhan, Kholmskaya (Krasnodar Territory), and Yaroslavskiy (Primorye Territory). Most are still held in pretrial detention; others are already serving prison terms in penal colonies. Only one of the applicants is currently not behind bars — Oleg Postnikov. His criminal case has been sent for retrial.\n\u0026quot; The Working Group is particularly concerned that 17 of the detainees have reportedly been held in some form of ongoing pretrial detention for several years since 2019. This exacerbates the severity of their unfounded pretrial detention,\u0026quot; the opinion states (§ 129). Among those whose detention has lasted for years are 68-year-old Aleksandr Ivshin (more than 5 years), 60-year-old Anna Safronova (over 4 years), and 57-year-old Andrey Vlasov (about 4 years).\nThe Working Group determined that the criminal prosecution of the applicants was a direct result of the believers exercising their freedom of religion, expression, and peaceful assembly. \u0026quot; The searches, arrests, charges and detention were all aimed at multiple members of this religion, often based on them meeting to worship. No substantiated counterargument has been provided [...]. Recent cases indicate a pattern of discriminatory arrests and detentions of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses,\u0026quot; the opinion states (§§ 143, 144).\nThe experts demanded that Russia immediately release all 26 applicants, grant them the right to compensation, conduct a full and independent investigation, and take measures against those responsible for the unlawful detentions. At the same time, the group pointed to the need to bring the country\u0026#39;s legislation and law enforcement practice in line with its international obligations.\nThis is already the fourth instance in which the UN Working Group condemns the prosecution of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses in Russia. Although opinions of the UN Working Group are not decisions of an international court, the Russian authorities are not entitled to ignore them. The RF Constitutional Court, in its Ruling of June 9, 2015 No. 1276-O, noted that the Russian Federation is required to give due consideration to such findings and to review the issue of restoring violated rights, up to revising court decisions that resulted in the established violation. How the authorities will respond to the new opinion of the Working Group remains to be seen. Russia has 6 months to provide information about the measures taken.\n","category":"rights","date":"2026-03-30T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/07/070850/image_hu_5b07e79946eef0fc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/07/070850/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/07/070850/image_hu_ba1022958e431c8c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/07/070850/image_hu_4ba8c7a949044f56.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/07/070850.html","regions":["novosibirsk","tomsk","nizhegorod","jewish","tver","kemerovo","altaisky","kostroma","moscow","astrakhan","krasnodar","primorye","switzerland"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["un-working-group","liberty-deprivation","sizo","international"],"title":"UN Working Group Condemns \"Pattern of Discriminatory Detention of Jehovah's Witnesses\" and Demands Their Immediate Release","type":"news"},{"body":"The lawyer continues to present evidence of innocence and asks to attach a number of documents to the case file, including the opinions of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, ECHR rulings, as well as expert opinions on the presence of diseases that prevent Isakov from being held in custody.\nThe defendant testifies.\n","caseTitle":"The Case of Isakov and Minsafin in Kurgan","date":"2024-07-08T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/kurgan2/index.html#20240708","regions":["kurgan"],"tags":["first-instance","echr","un-working-group"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"The number of searches of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia continues to increase after the April 2017 Supreme Court decision. By mid-July 2020, more than 1000 home invasions of these law-abiding citizens had already been recorded. Law enforcement raids turn the lives of innocent people into a nightmare: separating families, destroying reputation, and causing physical and emotional trauma.\nSpecial operations of law enforcers against peaceful believers are striking with their cruelty. Armed grabbing groups in masks break down doors and windows, breaking into harmless people. Not only men but also young children, defenseless women, the elderly, and the disabled are often the victims of exhausting, long hours of searches. Although Jehovah's Witnesses offer no resistance to the authorities, they are insulted, threatened, intimidated with assault rifles and tasers, beaten and even tortured.\nAs evidence in criminal cases, law enforcers confiscate Bibles, printed publications, electronic devices, as well as money, bank cards, personal notes, sewing and knitting magazines, \"suspicious\" napkins with beautiful illustrations and other things that have nothing to do with religion.\n2018: \"We are not in America\"\nThe raids began with fan searches in winter 2018 in the Kemerovo and Belgorod regions. Special services treated peaceful workers as dangerous criminals. Armed detachments in masks broke down doors, crowded into dwellings, and forced harmless people to stand with their hands up against the wall for long periods, fell to the floor, releasing sarcastic remarks and offensive comments.\nIn a special operation code-named \"Judgment Day\" in Birobidzhan, about 150 law enforcement officers were involved in raids on 22 houses of believers. In Saratov, having come to the Bazhenov family with a search, the special forces by mistake cut the door to their neighbors and then broke their own. In Omsk law enforcers severely beat Sergey Polyakov and forced him to wipe his own blood off the floor. In Penza, the investigator forced six women to fully undress for a personal search.\nOn the night of November 15-16, 2018, one of the largest special operations against believers was carried out in a small Crimean town Dzhankoy. More than 200 FSB and police officers broke into at least 8 homes of local residents, kicking down doors. As a result of severe stress, 22-year-old Zhanna Lungu had a miscarriage. The young spouses had experienced the loss very badly. One of the Crimean believers had a microstroke due to the aggressive actions of the law enforcers.\nAnother distinguishing feature of the actions of the guards was a flagrant violation of procedures and disregard for the rights of citizens: the understood help special services to search andinterrogate residents, operatives do not let you get acquainted with the regulations and protocols of searches, threaten with problems at work and in educational institutions. In response to a request from a believer to make a legal call to a lawyer, the Kemerovo operative said: \"We are not in America!\"\n2019: \"It's unpleasant, but this is my job.\"\nThe number of searches of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2019 almost doubled, from 269 in 2018 to over 500. Special services did not ease the pressure on believers but acted more aggressively and cynically.\nThe infamous raid on the Surgut believers (KMAA-Yugra) turned into sophisticated torture with strangulation to the point of unconsciousness. In Minusinsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory), a Rosgvardiya officer pushed 76-year-old Aleksandr Potemkin, which caused the man to fall and get injured. In Evpatoria (Crimea), the search began late in the evening and continued almost a day, despite the poor health of believers. In Petrozavodsk (Karelia), the seizure groups came to people right at their workplaces and detained them on the street. In the Lipetsk region, FSB officers knocked down a housewife. She suffered a head injury and had to call an ambulance. In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, after the mass raids, the car of one of the believers was crushed with a sledgehammer.\nDuring the raids law enforcers threw extremist literature into the homes of believers and immediately \"found\" it, adding it to the evidence in criminal cases. This happened in Novosibirsk, Nevinnomyssk (Stavropol Territory), Makhachkala, Kaluga, and other cities.\nThe enthusiasm of law enforcers in hunting \"extremists\" many times led to the fact that they came by mistake with searches even to people who were not Jehovah's Witnesses. In the town of Unecha (Bryansk region), in search of prohibited literature from relatives and friends of believers, law enforcement officers opened the floors. In the village of Nikolaevka (Krasnoyarsk territory), a 77-year-old woman experienced severe stress during a raid, the only reason for which was the religion of her grandson.\nWhile storming an apartment in Sochi through a balcony, armed special forces placed both young and old people face to face on the floor, pointing machine guns at believers. During the search of the Martynov family, law enforcement officers planted a religious publication that did not belong to them. The law enforcers admitted that it was unpleasant for them themselves, but that was their job.\n2020: \"Armageddon has come for you!\"\nDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian law enforcement continued to storm the houses of Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the regime of self-isolation. Searches in early 2020 became particularly aggressive and massive.\nApproximately 100 Astrakhan law enforcement officers raided 20 families of local Jehovah's Witnesses. More than 30 investigative teams raided 50 houses of believers in the Transbaikalia. During the search in Chita, a teenager was beaten in front of his mother and younger sister. In Khabarovsk Territory, FSB officers invaded 68-year-old Yen Sen Li, hit him, broke his hands, fell to the floor, and handcuffed him. His wife lost consciousness as a result of such inhuman treatment of the elderly man.\nIn Ivanovo region, Primorye territory, Moscow region, and Tatarstan special services put believers at mortal risk of infection with coronavirus. In Teikovo (Ivanovo region), operatives in dirty boots flooded the apartment, inspecting everything up to plumbing and underwear. During the 7-hour search, a family of 5 people was allowed to visit the toilet only accompanied by security and sometimes with the door open.\nDuring a raid in Kerch , Crimea, a 29-year-old father of young children was kept undressed in the cold for several hours, causing him to fall ill. His 4-year-old son cut his legs on the shards of broken windows. One of the security officials told the head of the family: \"Armageddon has come for you! I will baptize you with 8 years of imprisonment. You'll cut down trees in the zone and sew uniforms for me.\"\n\"We're looking for anything to do with Jehovah.\"\nThe only reason for aggression and violence against peaceful believers in Russia is their faith in Jehovah God. The authorities motivate their decisions by the fact that \"the activities of [Jehovah's Witnesses] are different from the traditional principles of Christianity\". Russian law enforcement officials take conversations about God, Bible discussion, and prayer as extremism. According to the law enforcement officials themselves, they are looking for \"everything connected with Jehovah\": the Bible, cards, magnets.\nFor Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia - representatives of a religion known all over the world for its peacefulness - the house is no longer a \"fortress.\" They no longer feel safe, can't sleep, wondering if a group of grabbers will break into their apartment shouting: \"Everybody on the floor!\n\"You are so calm as if you were waiting for us\"\nAt the same time, their strong faith serves as a source of support for Jehovah's Witnesses, and their prayers help keep them calm. Konstantin Moiseenko from Zeya (Amur region) said that during the search and interrogation, he and his wife felt extraordinary calm, so the senior FSB officer even remarked surprisingly: \"You are so calm as if you were waiting for us\". Later, a local church parishioner with knowledge of the situation told Konstantin, \" The persecutors will never achieve their goal because persecution only strengthens the faith.”\nThere is a lot of support from fellow believers, and law enforcement officials themselves are well aware of that. Thus, during the search in the Krasnodar region, noting the confusion on the face of a believing woman, the investigator said: \"Jehovah's Witnesses do not abandon theirs. Believe me, in a couple of days you will have instructions on how to act, what to say, and where to write.”\nAggressive actions of law enforcers have caused serious concern among Russian and international figures and organizations. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention strongly condemned the violation of believers' rights and called these persecutions \"systemic and institutionalized\". Law scholars and human rights defenders both in Russia and abroad have unanimously condemned the actions of the authorities against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.\n","category":"analytics","date":"2020-07-14T15:00:00+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/2020/07/14.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","review","statistics","analytics","siloviks-violence","un-working-group"],"title":"Caution, the doors are about to be kicked in! The number of house searches of peaceful believers within three years reaches one thousand","type":"news"},{"body":"On May 6, 2020, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention prepared a decision concerning 18 believers in Russia. The Group considers the cases brought against them to be unlawful, urges authorities to immediately release those arrested, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, and to “take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of their rights.”\nThe authoritative UN body considered the complaint of eighteen Russian believers from Volgograd, Kemerovo, Smolensk, Penza, Perm and Novozybkov. Ten of them were arrested and held in pre-trial detention: Andrey Magliv, Igor Egozaryan, Ruslan Korolev, Vladimir Kulyasov, Valery Rogozin, Valery Shalev, Tatyana Shamsheva, Olga Silaeva, Alexander Solovyov and Denis Timoshin.\nAccording to the 15-page decision No. 10/2020, there are no grounds for criminal prosecution in any of the cases considered and all of them should be closed immediately. The cases were initiated \"only because [the accused] peacefully professed their religious beliefs, including carrying religious texts and Bibles, gathered together for worship services with fellow believers\" (paragraph 67).\nParagraph 71 of the document states: \"All 18 people ... were accused of various forms of \"extremist activity\". However, in the view of the Working Group, none of the activities described could be interpreted as such. In addition, the Working Group has not been submitted, and the Working Group itself is unable to establish, any reasons that could justify the restriction of the rights of these 18 persons under article 18 of the [International] Covenant [on Civil and Political Rights]. The Working Group considers that all the activities in which they participated constituted a peaceful way of exercising the right to freedom of religion under article 18 of the Covenant. Such activity was the sole basis for the detention of all 18 persons and their proceedings in the courts.\"\nParagraph 80 emphasizes that \"the actions of these 18 persons were of a peaceful nature, and there is no evidence that any of them, or indeed any of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, ever resorted to violence or called on others to violence.\"\nThe decision reiterates that there is a \"systemic and institutionalized persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses\" in Russia (para. 78). The same wording was expressed in the decision of October 1, 2019, concerning Vladimir Alushkin from Penza, and in the decision of May 3, 2019 regarding Dmitry Mikhailov from Shuya (Ivanovo region). Thus, this is the third opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention against Russian Jehovah's Witnesses. In all cases, UN officials rejected Jehovah's Witnesses' association with extremism.\nThe Working Group also calls for the release from detention of those held in pre-trial detention centres, as there is a high risk of contracting COVID-19 with limited medical care (para. 84).\nIn paragraph 85, the Working Group calls for \"a full and independent investigation into the circumstances of the arbitrary deprivation of liberty\" of believers and \"to take appropriate measures against those responsible.\"\nThe UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a body designed to investigate cases of detention that are inconsistent with international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments. The Working Group has the right to receive information from the authorities and non-governmental organizations and to meet with detainees and their families in order to establish the facts. The Working Group submits its conclusions and recommendations to governments, as well as to the UN Human Rights Council. Although the decisions of the Working Group are not binding on States, they can help to soften the position of the authorities in the face of wide international publicity.\nAccording to the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, expressed in the ruling of 09.06.2015 No. 1276-O, the Russian Federation, as a state governed by the rule of law, cannot ignore the decision of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which contains conclusions on arbitrary detention and criminal prosecution of citizens, without avoiding legal consequences.\n","category":"victory","date":"2020-05-21T15:26:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/05/11/image_hu_5b07e79946eef0fc.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/05/11/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/05/11/image_hu_ba1022958e431c8c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/05/11/image_hu_4ba8c7a949044f56.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/05/11.html","regions":["perm","smolensk","penza","volgograd","bryansk","kemerovo","switzerland"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["un-working-group","complaints","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"Third Decision of UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Regarding Russian Jehovah's Witnesses","type":"news"},{"body":"\n","date":"2020-05-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/docs/21.html","regions":[],"tags":["un-working-group"],"title":"Resolution of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning 18 believers","type":"docs"},{"body":"On October 1, 2019, the second decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia was received. This time, the arrest of Vladimir Alushkin from Penza was declared illegal. The Working Group is concerned about the \"systemic and institutionalized persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses\" (para. 65).\nWhat was the first decision of the Working Group on Complaints of Russian Jehovah's Witnesses? On May 29, 2019, a document was received following the consideration of the complaint of Dmitry Mikhailov from Shuya (Ivanovo region). His arrest was found to be a manifestation of religious discrimination.\nWhat conclusions did the Working Group reach on the complaint of Vladimir Alushkin (excerpts):\nAbs. 51-52: \"The decision to initiate a criminal case alleged that Alushkin was a religious minister of Jehovah's Witnesses and \"exercised general direction\" of their activities in the city of Penza, which was illegal after the decision of the Supreme Court of April 20, 2017. In particular, it was assumed that they had committed a crime in \"conducting conversations in public places and living quarters with residents of Penza ... and the involvement of new participants from among their relatives, acquaintances and residents of Penza\", as well as holding worship services to \"study its ideology\". The Working Group cannot accept that any of these activities could be described as organizing or participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The Working Group is unable to find any other reason that could justify the restriction of his rights under article 18 of the Covenant. All the activities in which Alushkin took part are an absolutely peaceful religious discussion.\"\nAbs. 53: \"The search of Alushkin's home and the seizure of his Bibles and religious texts, which he used in worship, also constitute an interference with his rights under article 18 of the Covenant.\"\nAbs. 63: \"The Working Group concludes that Alushkin's detention had no legal basis, as the Pervomaiskiy District Court and the Penza Regional Court did not comply with the basic condition for ordering this measure.\"\nAbs. 65: \"The Working Group particularly wishes to draw attention to the latest joint complaint in which special procedures mandate holders expressed concern about 'the issue of systemic and institutionalized persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.'\"\nAbs. 67: \"Alushkin's actions have always been completely peaceful, and there is no evidence that he or other Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia ever used violence or encouraged others to violence. The Working Group notes that Alushkin is only one of a growing number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia detained and imprisoned who have been charged with criminal activity on the grounds that they were simply exercising the right to freedom of religion, a right protected by article 18 of the Covenant. The Working Group therefore concludes that Alushkin's detention and detention was a manifestation of religious discrimination.\"\nAbs. 68: \"All these cases relate to the fact that the peaceful religious activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were characterized as 'extremist', which led to the detention and imprisonment of those who belong to this religion. Therefore, while this Opinion relates to Alushkin's particular circumstances, the Working Group wishes to emphasize that its conclusions in this Opinion apply to all other persons in circumstances similar to those of Alushkin.\"\nAbs. 71-72: \"An appropriate measure of protection would be the unconditional release of Vladimir Alushkin and the granting of his enforceable right to receive compensation and other forms of reparation in accordance with international law. The Working Group urges the Government to ensure a full and independent investigation into the circumstances of the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Vladimir Alushkin and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.\"\nWhat is the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention? This is a structure under the UN designed to investigate cases of detention that do not comply with international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international documents. The Working Group has the right to receive information from the authorities and non-governmental organizations and to meet with detainees and their families in order to establish the facts. The Working Group submits its conclusions and recommendations to governments, as well as to the UN Human Rights Council. Although the decisions of the Working Group are not binding on States, they can help to soften the position of the authorities in the face of wide international publicity.\nJehovah's Witnesses filed complaints with three different international bodies: the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.\n","category":"rights","date":"2019-10-14T17:26:07+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/10/1241/190114_alushkin_hu_a772f6d61cb82211.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/10/1241/190114_alushkin.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/10/1241/190114_alushkin_hu_26d2129c5b3c3d0b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/10/1241/190114_alushkin_hu_949adb13912eb186.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/10/1241.html","regions":["penza","switzerland"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["international","review","complaints","un-working-group"],"title":"\"Systemic and Institutionalized Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses.\" The UN Working Group issued a second decision on Russia","type":"news"},{"body":"\n","date":"2019-09-20T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/docs/1451.html","regions":["penza"],"tags":["un-working-group"],"title":"Resolution of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning Vladimir Alushkin (Penza)","type":"docs"},{"body":"The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention strongly condemned the arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses and demanded that Russia immediately release the believers. On May 29, 2019, a document was received following the consideration of Dmitry Mikhailov's complaint from Shuya (Ivanovo region). His arrest was recognized as a manifestation of religious discrimination. The document stresses that the findings \"apply to all other persons in circumstances similar to those in which Mr. Mikhailov finds himself\" (para. 77).\nRussian Jehovah's Witnesses filed complaints about arrests with three different international authorities: the European Court of Human Rights, the UN Human Rights Committee, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The document on Dmitry Mikhailov was the first decision of an international court. The decision was made on April 26, 2019 during the 84th session of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.\nExcerpts from the resolution on Mikhailov's complaint. \"It is clear to the Working Group that Mr. Mikhailov did nothing more than exercise his right to freedom of religion under article 18 of the Covenant and was detained by the authorities for doing so. The Working Group therefore concludes that Mr. Mikhailov's detention falls within category II. The Working Group refers the case to the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion for further action\" (para. 53). \"Mikhailov is one of a growing number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia who have been detained and imprisoned and charged with criminal activity on the grounds that they were simply exercising the right to freedom of religion\" (para. 76). \"In all the circumstances of the present case, the appropriate remedy would be to dismiss the case against Mr. Mikhailov and give him the right to receive compensation and other forms of damages in accordance with international law\" (para. 80). \"The Working Group urges the Government to ensure a full and independent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Dmitri Mikhailov's arbitrary deprivation of liberty and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights\" (para. 81).\nCircumstances of the criminal prosecution of Dmitry Mikhalov. Dmitriy Mikhailov and his wife, Yelena, learned that for several months from the end of 2017, their phones were tapped and covert video recording of their lives was conducted in order to record the fact of their joint prayers and reading the Bible. On April 19, 2018, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Ivanovo Region opened a criminal case against him, a search was conducted in their house, Dmitry was detained and sent to a pre-trial detention center for six months. Later, his wife was also charged. The investigation is based on the decision of the Supreme Court to liquidate and ban the activities of all Jehovah's Witnesses organizations in Russia. He is accused of financing and participating in the activities of an organization banned by the court, although the right to practice any religion was not abolished by the Supreme Court.\nWhat is the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention? This is a structure under the UN designed to investigate cases of detention that do not comply with international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international documents. The Working Group has the right to receive information from the authorities and non-governmental organizations and to meet with detainees and their families in order to establish the facts. The Working Group submits its conclusions and recommendations to governments, as well as to the UN Human Rights Council. Although the decisions of the Working Group are not binding on States, they can help to soften the position of the authorities in the face of wide international publicity.\nEarlier, the signals of the Working Group were heard in Kazakhstan and South Korea. In January 2017, 60-year-old Teymur Akhmedov was arrested and imprisoned in Kazakhstan . He received a five-year sentence just for sharing his beliefs with others. Having exhausted domestic remedies, Akhmedov filed a complaint with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The UN condemned the actions of the Kazakh authorities and called for the release of the believer. In April 2018, the President of Kazakhstan pardoned Teymur Akhmedov. In South Korea , young Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to prison for refusing to serve in the armed forces. In August 2018, the Working Group demanded the immediate release of prisoners of conscience and the removal of their criminal records. By 2019, all Jehovah's Witnesses had been released.\nAccording to the organization's rules, the Russian Government was informed of the resolution even before the applicant became aware of it. The Russian government has 6 months to answer whether the case against Mikhailov has been dismissed, whether compensation has been granted to him, whether an investigation has been conducted against violators of rights and with what result, whether legislative amendments have been adopted in connection with the violation of rights. The Working Group reserves the right to follow up on its own case.\n","category":"victory","date":"2019-06-05T17:13:46+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/06/905/mikhailov4091_hu_df10495a6b5e8e18.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/06/905/mikhailov4091.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/06/905/mikhailov4091_hu_623cf69990626653.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/06/905/mikhailov4091_hu_be50a5d93e2b6f9.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/06/905.html","regions":["ivanovo","switzerland"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["un-working-group"],"title":"First International Decision on Complaints of Russian Jehovah's Witnesses Against Arrests","type":"news"},{"body":"\n","date":"2019-06-05T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/docs/906.html","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["un-working-group"],"title":"Resolution of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention","type":"docs"},{"body":"The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention condemns the arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses and demands that Russia immediately release Dmitry Mikhailov. His arrest was recognized as a manifestation of religious discrimination. The document stresses that the findings \"apply to all other persons in circumstances similar to those in which Mr. Mikhailov is.\"\n","caseTitle":"The Case of the Mikhaylovs and Others in Shuya","date":"2019-05-29T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/shuya/index.html#20190529","regions":["ivanovo"],"tags":["un-working-group"],"type":"timeline"}]