Three Rostov Jehovah's Witnesses were transferred to another pre-trial detention center

Jehovah's Witnesses from Rostov-on-Don Vilen and Arsen Avanesov, as well as Alexander Parkov, were transferred to pre-trial detention center No. 5. This is stated on the website dedicated to the persecution of believers.

The reason for the transfer is not specified. Previously, believers were in pre-trial detention center No. 1.

Father and son Avanesov, as well as Parkov, have been in custody for almost two years - they were arrested in May 2019. The men are accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), and Arsen Avanesov is additionally accused of collecting funds to finance its activities (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code).

Avanesov was charged with this for receiving donations to rent premises for meetings of fellow believers.

• In 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 organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were added to the list of prohibited ones. After this, a stream of criminal cases against representatives of the confession began.
• Rosfinmonitoring has added hundreds of Russian followers of Jehovah's Witnesses to the list of extremists and terrorists. Most of the people on the list are believers between 40 and 60 years old. They are under investigation or sentenced to various punishments under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization or participation in the activities of an extremist organization).