In Elista, security forces conducted at least three searches in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses

In Elista, FSB officers conducted at least three searches in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. The website “Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia” reports this.

On February 28, security forces came to search Kisht Tutinova and two other women. During the investigation, electronic devices, correspondence and personal records were confiscated from unnamed believers. One woman was immediately taken in for questioning. During the search, an ambulance was called for the second believer.

A criminal case was opened against Tutinova under the article on organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). After a search and interrogation, the believer was sent to a temporary detention facility for two days.

According to investigators, Tutinova “holds religious meetings at her home and directly participates in them via online conferences, and also involves residents of the region in the activities of the organization for the purpose of propaganda.”

On March 8, the Court sent Tutinova under house arrest. The Caucasian Knot reports this with reference to Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.

• 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. All organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were included in the list of prohibited ones, after which a stream of criminal cases against believers 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.
• On June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights declared the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses organizations and the subsequent persecution of believers illegal. From the point of view of the ECHR, the decision to liquidate the organization and criminal cases against Jehovah’s Witnesses is based on an overly broad definition of “extremism”, which in Russian legislation “can be applied to absolutely peaceful forms of expression.”