The FSB conducted searches of Jehovah's Witnesses in Karachay-Cherkessia

On January 9, the FSB conducted searches at at least three addresses of Jehovah's Witnesses in Karachay-Cherkessia. The website “Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia” reports this.

With searches in the morning, security forces came to Andrei Serdtsev, Irina Perfilyeva and Svetlana Gergokova in the village of Mednogorskoye. Gergokova’s elderly mother’s blood pressure rose and she needed emergency medical help.

The court allowed a search of believers to “identify facts of involvement in the activities of the banned organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” As a result, security forces seized electronics, personal notes and Bible translations.

• In November 2020, searches were carried out on Cherkessk resident Elena Menchikova, after which she was given a written undertaking not to leave. During the search, security forces seized her daughter's drawings. As it turned out, a criminal case was opened against the woman for participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).
• Menchikova has already taken similar investigative measures as part of a criminal case against another Jehovah’s Witness from Cherkessk, Albert Batchaev. He spent almost a year in a pre-trial detention center and under house arrest on charges of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 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. Later, 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.