On March 30, employees of Center “E” in Abakan (Khakassia) came to search the home of Jehovah’s Witness Alexander Vergunov. The website “Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia” reports this.

During the investigation, security forces seized the believer’s laptop.

The criminal case against Vergunov and five other Jehovah’s Witnesses from Abakan became known in April 2020. The case was opened under the article on participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).

In February 2021, the Abakan City Court sentenced two supporters of the confession to real terms: Roman Baranovsky was sentenced to six years in prison, and his elderly mother Valentina Baranovskaya was sentenced to two years.
In April 2017, the Supreme Court recognized the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as an extremist organization and banned its activities throughout the country. In August of the same year, all communities 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. In February 2019, the court handed down its first sentence with real imprisonment - Danish citizen Dennis Christensen was sentenced to six years in prison.

In Abakan, employees of Center “E” came to search the local Jehovah’s Witness