In the Primorsky Territory, two followers of Jehovah's Witnesses were charged again

In the Primorsky Territory, an investigator brought charges under a new article against Sergei Sergeev and Yuri Belosludtsev, followers of Jehovah's Witnesses from the village of Luchegorsk. This was reported on the website of the religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

The believers were charged under the article on participation in the activities of an organization recognized as extremist (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). As the religious organization writes, the investigation believes that Sergeev and Belosludtsev entered into a “criminal conspiracy” for the purpose of “studying and discussing religious material on topics about Jehovah.”

The accused have been in jail since March 2019. The believers were taken into custody a few days after their homes were searched. Then they were charged under the article on inducing, recruiting or otherwise involving people in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).

• 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. In February 2019, the court handed down its first sentence with real imprisonment - Danish citizen Dennis Christensen was sentenced to six years in prison.