The first criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses has been initiated in Kalmykia

Kishta Tutinova was detained.

On February 28, 2023, in Elista, Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in connection with a criminal case initiated on February 16 under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code. Kishta Tutinova is a suspect under Part 1 of this article; she was detained and placed in a temporary detention center. On March 1, the court placed her under house arrest.

According to investigators, Tutinova held religious meetings “online conferences” and also involved residents of the region in the activities of the banned organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In relation to unidentified ordinary members of the organization, the Federal Security Service of Russia in Kalmykia opened a case under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization).

Searches took place at Tutinova and two other Elista women, Ekaterina Menkova and Tsagan Khalgaeva, they received the status of witnesses in the case, and on December 19, 2023 they became accused under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code.

Jehovah's Witnesses are accused of involvement in the activities of an extremist organization due to the fact that in April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court decided to recognize the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations as extremist. We believe that this decision, which entailed mass persecution of believers under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, had no legal grounds, and we regard it as a manifestation of religious discrimination. In June 2022, the ECHR issued a ruling on the complaint of Jehovah's Witnesses, in which it recognized that the ban on their materials and organizations and the persecution of believers contradict the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and demanded that criminal cases under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Jehovah's Witnesses and release believers in prison.

Sources

• The case of Tutinova and others in Elista. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2024. February 9.
• Security forces in another region of the Russian Federation have opened a case against Jehovah's Witnesses. Searches and interrogations of believers took place in Elista. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2023. March 2.