A member of the Jehovah's Witnesses community was beaten in Karachay-Cherkessia

In the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia, Cherkessk, police officers who introduced themselves as employees of the Center for Combating Extremism, including the head of the center, beat Vladimir Mirzoyan, a 53-year-old Jehovah's Witness minister, demanding that he recant his statement on illegal actions of police officers under video recording, 15 . reported July Kasparov. Ru press service of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

The occasion was the 210-seat Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, built by believers in 2000. For some time now, the building began to interfere with the construction of new retail space: believers received a proposal to alienate the building and part of the adjacent territory. However, then they decided not to buy the building, but simply to take it away: to confiscate believers for "extremist activity". According to the Circassian Jehovists, for this purpose, publications of Jehovah's Witnesses, previously included in the list of extremist materials, were planted in the hall and then "discovered". The organization itself and two of its members were fined.

After that, the attendant of the hall, Mirzoyan, was ill-treated twice at the police station. During the first “conversation” in early June, under pressure, he was forced to sign an explanation prepared in advance by the police, but the next morning he filed complaints against the employees. Then Mirzoyan was so beaten by the police that he needed medical attention. Now he fears for the safety of his family and hopes that the state will be able to protect him from police brutality.