Jehovah's Witness detained in Adler

The police officers detained the believer Rustam Seidkuliyev.

On March 11, 2020, it became known that on February 15, 2020, police officers in Sochi detained Rustam Seidkuliyev, a follower of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses. Then the believer spent five days in a local pre-trial detention center, after which he was escorted to Saratov, where they chose a measure of restraint in the form of house arrest. On October 2, 2020, it became known that the court replaced his restraints with a ban on certain actions.

Seidkuliev became a defendant in a case initiated under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of an extremist organization). According to believers, he and his wife Yulia had previously been interrogated as part of an investigation into the case of Alexei Miretsky, Roman Gridasov, Gennady German, Felix Makhammadiyev, Alexei Budenchuk, and Konstantin Bazhenov, Jehovah's Witnesses from Saratov who were sentenced to real prison terms .

The accusation of believers of involvement in the activities of an extremist organization was due to the fact that in April 2017 the Supreme Court of Russia decided to recognize the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist. We believe that this decision, which entailed the mass persecution of believers under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, had no legal grounds, and we regard it as a manifestation of religious discrimination. Accordingly, we also consider the verdict against the Saratov believers unlawful.

Sources

• In Adler, FSB officers detained a believer from Saratov. On the way to the pre-trial detention center, the guards insulted and intimidated him. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. March 11, 2020
• Rustam Seidkuliev from Saratov has been released from house arrest. The court softened the measure of restraint to the prohibition of certain actions. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2020. October 2.