Translated material
Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in Vladivostok
The believer Kirill Chekolaev was sent to a pre-trial detention center.
On December 15, 2023, it became known that on December 7, searches were carried out at at least five addresses of Jehovah’s Witnesses from Vladivostok. One of the believers, 19-year-old Kirill Chekolaev, was sent to a pre-trial detention center, another reported the use of violence by law enforcement officers who carried out the search.
Investigative actions took place within the framework of a case already initiated against local Jehovah's Witnesses under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in it) and Part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code (financing the activities of an extremist organization), the defendants of which were Yuri Byche, Sergei Novoselov, Yegor Pogrebnyak, Tatyana Kazakova and six other believers.
Chekolaev became accused under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an extremist organization).
The decision to recognize the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local organizations as extremist was made by the Supreme Court of Russia in April 2017. We believe that this decision, which resulted in mass persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses under Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code, had no legal basis and became a clear 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 detained 19-year-old Kirill Chekolaev was transferred to a regular pre-trial detention center cell. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2023. December 18.
- Searches of believers were conducted in Vladivostok. One was beaten, the other was arrested. Message from Jehovah's Witnesses. 2023. December 15.