The arrest of the head of the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg was extended for four months.

The St. Petersburg City Court extended the arrest of Ivan Matsitsky, the head of the local Church of Scientology, for four months - until February 19, 2019. This was reported in the telegram channel “United Press Service of the Courts of St. Petersburg”.

Matsitsky is accused of points “a”, “b” of Part 2 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code (illegal business committed by an organized group with the extraction of income on an especially large scale), Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code (incitement of hatred or enmity committed by an organized group) and Part 1 Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code (organization of extremist communities).

At the meeting, the investigation announced the end of the investigative actions and presented the case materials to the accused and the defense. Matsitsky and his lawyers refused to familiarize themselves with the case materials.

The defense also opposed the extension of the arrest, saying that the charges against Matsitsky were unfounded. According to lawyers, there is inadmissible evidence in the case.

The channel’s report clarifies that on September 18, the first deputy head of the FSB Investigation Department extended the period of the preliminary investigation in the case until February 20, 2019.

• The head of the community, Ivan Matsitsky, the chief accountant, Sahib Aliyev, the executive director, Galina Shurinova, the head of the internal security service, Anastasia Terentyeva, and the organization’s lawyer, Konstantia Esaulkova, were arrested in June 2017. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognized all the defendants as political prisoners.
• The SOVA Information and Analytical Center considers it unlawful to prosecute Scientologists for extremism. “Assertion of one's own exclusivity is characteristic of any religion, and the persecution of Scientologists and the banning of their literature on this basis are unfounded. The investigation’s selection of some of the Scientologist adherents who are subject to psychological pressure into a social group protected by anti-extremist legislation seems doubtful to us,” says the Sova website.