A court in Saratov extended house arrest for a follower of Jehovah's Witnesses

In Saratov, judge of the Leninsky District Court Alexander Shikhorin extended the house arrest of Jehovah's Witnesses follower Rustam Seidkuliev. Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia report this on their website.

Seidkuliev is accused under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). The preventive measure was extended for one month, until June 20.

Rustem Seidkuliev was detained on February 15 in Sochi. The police then said that he was wanted. After five days in a local pre-trial detention center, the believer was escorted to Saratov, where the court placed him under house arrest for two months.

• 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, his complaint was accepted for consideration by the ECHR.