Three followers of Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested in Lipetsk

In Lipetsk, the Sovetsky District Court, at the request of the regional FSB department, arrested three local followers of Jehovah's Witnesses. This was reported by Kommersant with reference to a commentary from the court’s press service.

Arthur Netreba, Viktor Bachurin and Alexander Kostrov are suspected of participating in the activities of a religious association recognized as extremist (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the court, the suspects “held meetings of adherents at various addresses in the regional center and region, and also took part in meetings of the council of elders.”

Netreba, Bachurin and Kostrov were detained by FSB officers on December 2. The website of the religious organization reports that on that day security forces conducted at least 7 searches in Lipetsk. During one of them, FSB officers injured the owner of the apartment in which the search was taking place.

• 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 Jehovah's Witnesses organizations were added to the list of prohibited organizations. After this, a stream of criminal cases against representatives of the confession began.