In the Chelyabinsk region, investigators completed the investigation of a criminal case against a 27-year-old local resident accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). Information about this was published on the website of the IC department for the region.
According to investigators, from September 6, 2017 to September 8, 2022, the man held meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, preached, distributed religious literature and information materials, and also “encouraged other persons to participate in the activities of the organization.”
According to information from a portal covering the persecution of believers of this denomination, we are talking about Maxim Khamatshin. It is clarified that the case against him was opened in June 2023, and now the man is under recognizance not to leave the place.
Khamatshin's case has already been sent to court for consideration on the merits.
- 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.
- 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.”