Suspects of organizing the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were detained in Belgorod

Two residents of Belgorod, Anatoly Shalyapin and Sergei Voikov, were detained as suspects in the case of organizing the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses. IAC "Sova" reports this.

Shalyapin and Voikov are suspected of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) in connection with the work of the local community of Jehovah's Witnesses. Both were taken into custody for 48 hours, the issue of choosing a preventive measure is being decided.

On February 7, police officers and SOBR conducted massive searches in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. During the searches, law enforcement officers seized Bibles, equipment, money, international passports and photographs. The detainees were taken to the Investigative Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Belogorod Region, fingerprinted and issued summonses for questioning.

• On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court recognized the “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” as an extremist organization, liquidated it and banned its activities in Russia. In August, all organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were added to the list of prohibited organizations.