Extension of the arrest of journalist Ivan Safronov, mass detentions in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case and the emigration of a Navalny supporter. We tell you the main news for October 4th. The Moscow City Court extended the arrest of ex-Kommersant and Vedomosti journalist Ivan Safronov until January 7, 2022. He is accused of treason. Human rights activists link the persecution to Safronov’s coverage of the work of the military-industrial complex.

On September 28, the Second Western District Military Court found Hamid Igamberdiyev, a defendant in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, guilty under the article on justifying terrorism (Part 1, Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the Human Rights Center "Memorial". In 2019, Igamberdiyev was sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir (Part 1, Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code).

In the Irkutsk region, security forces are conducting massive searches of Jehovah's Witnesses. This was reported on a website covering the persecution of believers in Russia. Starting at 6 a.m., law enforcement officers surrounded the houses of Jehovah's Witnesses in Irkutsk and the village of Pivovarikha, detaining believers for questioning. At least nine searches are known at different addresses. Among those who were searched were 52-year-old Yaroslav Kalin and 63-year-old Nikolai Martynov.

The Moscow City Court extended the arrest of journalist Ivan Safronov until January 7, 2022. This was reported in the telegram channel in support of the journalist. Safronov is charged with an article on treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). According to the prosecution, he passed abroad information about Russia's military-technical cooperation with African countries, as well as information about the activities of the armed forces in the Middle East region.

A resident of the village of Tavatuy (Sverdlovsk region) Olga Putintseva was summoned to the police after a complaint to Vladimir Putin against the head of the settlement. It is reported by Znak. On September 13, Putintseva sent a letter to the president, signed by 44 fellow villagers, complaining about the work of Oleg Sidorov, head of the Nevyansk Administration's Department of Settlements. The villagers said they were outraged by the activities of the official.

In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, Rospotrebnadzor canceled all public events in the country. It is reported by RIA Novosti. “According to mass events, they have been stopped throughout the country. They are carried out only in accordance with the decision of the chief state sanitary doctor, depending on the trend of the epidemiological process, ”said Anna Popova, head of the department.

The criminal case against Jehovah's Witness Sergei Kuznetsov was sent to the Vyazemsky District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory. This was reported on a website covering the persecution of believers in Russia. The man is accused of participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code).

The Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow fined activist Pavel Ivanov 10 thousand rubles due to an action against the law on educational activities. The young man reports this on his Telegram channel. “I consider this decision of the court and the prosecutor’s office of the city of Moscow an attempt to put pressure on me in order to intimidate and prepare a legal basis if it is necessary to neutralize me,” writes Ivanov.

On September 30, a court in the Krasnodar Territory arrested Jehovah's Witness Alexander Nikolaev, who is accused of participating in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code). This was reported on a website covering the persecution of believers in Russia. Nikolaev was placed in pre-trial detention center No. 3 in Novorossiysk.

The former coordinator of Navalny's Chelyabinsk headquarters, Alexander Belyaev, left Russia due to pressure from the authorities. Public figure Denis Ibragimov reports this on his Telegram channel. The Chelyabinsk oppositionist requested political asylum in the Netherlands. According to Ibragimov, Belyaev left Russia due to the threat of a criminal case.

The Nikolaevsky District Court of the Volgograd Region fined an 18-year-old local resident a thousand rubles under the article on the demonstration of Nazi symbols (part 1 of article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). This was reported by the press service of the courts of the region.

In Moscow and the Moscow region, FSB officers detained eight people in a criminal case on involvement in the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir. It is reported by TASS. “Two of its leaders and six active participants were detained,” the agency said in a statement.