The head of the Jehovah's Witnesses community was fined in Arkhangelsk

On February 4, 2016, it became known that on January 22, 2016, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Arkhangelsk recognized the head of the local religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses “Central. Arkhangelsk” Alexander Parygin guilty of possessing extremist literature for the purpose of mass distribution (Article 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). He was fined 1.5 thousand rubles.

This is not the first case of persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Arkhangelsk. Thus, in April 2015, religious literature was confiscated from the premises of the community, and in October 2015, the same Oktyabrsky Court of Arkhangelsk fined a member of the community under Art. 20.29 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. After that, Parygin said that he had sent a statement to the Ministry of Justice about the self-liquidation of the city organization. In December and O. Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region, Igor Orlov, announced that he intended to "delegalize" Jehovah's Witnesses in the region.