FSB in Saratov Region Initiates Deprivation of Citizenship of Jehovah's Witness

The FSB Directorate for the Saratov Region initiated the cancellation of the acceptance into Russian citizenship of a Jehovah's Witness convicted under the article on organizing the activities of an extremist organization or participation in it (Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), Information and Analysis Center "Sova".

The Center believes that this is about Rustam Seidkuliev, who was born and lived in Turkmenistan until 2000, when his family moved to Russia.

In May 2021, the Leninsky District Court of Saratov found Seidkuliev guilty of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced him to two and a half years of imprisonment in a general regime colony with a year of restricted freedom upon release. Then the regional court sentenced him to two months.

admitted reduced In 2021, two more Jehovah's Witnesses were stripped of their Russian citizenship in the Saratov region. One was deported to , the other to .

Ukraine Uzbekistan According to the amendments to the Law on Citizenship adopted in 2017, a court verdict that has entered into legal force under a number of articles of extremist and terrorist nature (including Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code) is equivalent to providing knowingly false information about the obligation to comply with the Constitution and laws of the Russian Federation when acquiring citizenship, and therefore may serve as grounds for canceling the decision on admission to citizenship.

• On April 20, 2017, the Supreme Court declared the Jehovah's Witnesses Administrative Center in Russia an extremist organization, liquidated it and banned its activities in Russia. In August, all Jehovah's Witnesses organizations were added to the list of banned organizations. After that, criminal cases against representatives of the confession began. admitted contributed a stream