Cases of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses recorded in May 2012 in Russian regions

In May 2012, about forty cases of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses were recorded in different regions. The persecution took the form of the disruption of worship services, the ban on preaching in populated areas, and searches of the homes and Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Prohibitions on preaching

On May 1, 2012, the administration of Krivodanovka, Novosibirsk Region, prohibited Jehovah's Witnesses from preaching in the village, and on May 12, 2012, the heads of the administration of Zyryanovsky (Sverdlovsk Region) and Shatalovka (Altai Territory) also banned the preaching of Jehovah's Witnesses.

On May 17, 2012, preaching Jehovah's Witnesses were detained in Tambov; on May 21, in Moscow; on May 24, in Varna, Chelyabinsk Region; on May 27, in Malinovka, Altai Territory; Members of the community were taken to local police stations (in one case, to a police officer's apartment), and religious literature was confiscated.

Searches

On May 4, 2012, searches were carried out in the homes and Kingdom Halls of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Orenburg Region:

• in 5 houses and 2 Kingdom Halls in Orenburg,

• in 2 houses and a Kingdom Hall in Buzuluk,

• in 1 house and Kingdom Hall in Yasnoe,

• in 2 houses and a Kingdom Hall in Buruslan,

• Kingdom Hall in Orsk.

On May 5, 2012, a divine service in Uchaly (Bashkortostan) was disrupted. Employees of the prosecutor's office and the FSB interrogated the Jehovah's Witnesses present at the meeting and transcribed their passport details. On May 12, 2012, police officers seized religious literature from Jehovah's Witnesses during a service in Chekhov (Moscow Region). On May 6, services were interrupted in a similar way in Tomarovka (Belgorod Region) and Ishim (Tyumen Region), on May 20 - in Volno-Nadezhdinsky (Primorsky Territory), on May 22 - in Elista.

On May 23, in the village of Zavitaya (Amur Region), a box of religious literature was confiscated from a Jehovah's Witness.

Administrative matters

against Jehovah's Witnesses S. Marchishen (Uchaly, Bashkortostan), G. Tselovalnikova (Stary Oskol, Belgorod Region), and N. Zhidkova (Bui, Kostroma Region). Reports of administrative offenses were drawn up

Expressions of intolerance

On May 20, 2012, unidentified persons tried to set fire to the house of a Jehovah's Witness in Terek (Kabardino-Balkaria) by throwing two Molotov cocktails into the yard. R. Shomakhova turned to the police.

On May 21, 22 and 23 pickets against Jehovah's Witnesses were held in Belgorod. A group of young people with lighted candles in their hands stood near the funeral wreaths placed in front of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Sources

• Information about the manifestation of religious intolerance towards Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia from May 01, 2012 to May 30, 2012 // Press Service of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. 2012. May 30.