In St. Petersburg, the FSB came to search Scientologists

In St. Petersburg, the FSB is conducting a search at the office of the Church of Scientology. TASS reports this with reference to a source in law enforcement agencies.

The agency's interlocutor noted that operational investigative measures are also being carried out in the representative offices of Scientologists in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as in the apartments of movement participants. He added that the search is being carried out as part of a criminal case related to defrauded shareholders.

In 2017, a criminal case was opened against St. Petersburg Scientologists under articles on inciting hatred (clause “c” of Part 2 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code), creating an extremist community (Part 1 of Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code) and illegal entrepreneurship (clause “a” and “b” part 2 of article 171 of the Criminal Code). The investigation considers conducting paid courses without creating a legal entity to be illegal business activity.

The head of the local Church of Scientology, Ivan Matsitsky, and accountant Sahib Aliyev are in pretrial detention. One of the leaders, Anastasia Terentyeva, and lawyer, Konstancia Esaulkova, are under house arrest, and executive director Galina Shurinova is under recognizance not to leave the place. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognized all the defendants as political prisoners.

• Scientology is a religious movement created in the mid-20th century. Scientologists believe that man is just one of the incarnations of beings who live many lives both on Earth and in extraterrestrial civilizations.
• 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 Owl website says .