In Oryol, a court arrested three Jehovah's Witnesses

Vladimir Melnik, Vladimir Piskarev and Artur Putintsev were taken into custody for two months.

On December 11, 2020, it became known that in Orel, the Sovetsky District Court arrested Vladimir Melnik and Vladimir Piskarev, followers of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, for two months, and on December 14, Artur Putintsev. All three were detained in early December.

A criminal case has been opened against the believers under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). They are suspected of continuing the activities of the Oryol community as members of the Council of Elders, performing organizational functions.

The local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Orel was declared extremist in 2016, and the Russian Supreme Court upheld the decision of the regional court. We believe that the decisions of the Russian courts to ban communities of Jehovah's Witnesses, which resulted in the mass persecution of believers under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, had no legal grounds and are a manifestation of religious discrimination.

were sentenced earlier in Orel Let us remind you that Jehovah's Witnesses Dennis Christensen and Sergei Skrynnikov .

Sources

• At the request of the investigation, the court chose a measure of restraint in the form of detention against two adherents of an extremist organization // SU IC of the Russian Federation for the Oryol region. December 11, 2020
• In the city of Orel, a wave of searches in the apartments of co-religionists of prisoner of conscience Dennis Christensen. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. December 11, 2020
• The court sent another believer detained in Orel, Artur Putintsev, to a pre-trial detention center for two months. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. December 14, 2020