Jehovah's Witness detained in Feodosia

Maxim Zinchenko was detained in Feodosia and taken to Sevastopol.

On May 22, 2023, the residences of Jehovah's Witness Maxim Zinchenko and his wife were searched in Feodosiya. The believer was detained and taken to Sevastopol.

As the department of the Investigative Committee for Crimea and Sevastopol later reported, Jehovah's Witnesses are suspected under Part 2 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). According to investigators, since 2019, the believer has been actively involved in the activities of the Sevastopol cell of Jehovah's Witnesses, organizing religious meetings and promoting the ideology of the banned organization.

The accusation of Jehovah's Witnesses of involvement in the activities of an extremist organization is due to the fact that in April 2017 the Supreme Court of Russia decided to recognize the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist. We believe that this decision, which entailed the 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 are contrary to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and demanded that criminal cases be dropped under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Jehovah's Witnesses and release imprisoned believers.

Sources

• New criminal case for faith in Crimea. A Jehovah's Witness was searched in Feodosiya. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. May 23, 2023
• Investigators of the Russian Investigative Committee and FSB operatives stopped the activities of one of the leaders of the Sevastopol cell of the banned organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" // SU IC of Russia for the Crimea and Sevastopol. May 24, 2023