In St. Petersburg, the court once again extended the term of arrest of Scientologists

The Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg extended the arrest of Scientologists.

On May 28, 2018, the Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg extended the arrest of St. Petersburg Scientologists until June 4. On this day, a year expires from the moment the believers were taken into custody - it is impossible to extend the arrest beyond June 4. The decision to arrest the Scientologists was made by the Nevsky District Court of St. Petersburg in early June 2017. Anastasia Terentyeva, 38-year-old head of the internal security service, was the first to be arrested for two months in the Scientology case. Behind her - "spiritual leader" Ivan Matsitsky, executive director of the organization Galina Shurinova, chief accountant Sahib Aliyev. Constance Esaulkova, Terentyeva's deputy, was placed under house arrest. Later, Shurinova, Terentyeva and Aliev were also transferred under house arrest, but the latter was again sent to a pre-trial detention center a month later.

Arrests and searches took place within the framework of a criminal case under Art. 171 (illegal business), Art. 282 (inciting hatred) and Art. 282.1 (organization of an extremist community) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, the Church of Scientology was engaged in shadow business, selling educational programs to its followers that are not taxed.

As a reminder, we tend to consider it illegal to prosecute Scientologists for extremism. The assertion of one's own exclusiveness is characteristic of any religion, and the persecution of Scientologists and the banning of their literature on this basis are unreasonable. It seems doubtful to us that a part of the adherents of Scientologists who are subjected to psychological pressure have been singled out by the investigation into a social group protected by anti-extremist legislation.

Sources

• Scientologists Meet the Case // Businessman. May 28, 2018
• Time Limits for Arrests of Church of Scientology St. Petersburg Leaders Extended // RAPSI. May 28, 2018