RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS

St. Petersburg Jehovah's Witnesses raided by investigators

ST. PETERSBURG DIVISION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CHECKED FOR EXTREMISM

ntv.ru, 12 October 2016


Police agents conducted searches in one of the halls of the religious organization.

 

St. Petersburg investigators arrived at the Jehovah's Witnesses building. A massive inspection of the religious organization was begun in the so-called Kingdom Hall on Luga Street. At just that time an evening meeting was being conducted.

 

About 50 persons were in attendance at the worship service. Several of them were arrested and taken to the police department. According to information from sources, the parishioners were released after an inspection of information on their telephones and tablets. Viktor Koretsky, a devotee with 19 years of experience, explained that after the website of the Witnesses was ruled to be extremist and was blocked, the religious organization was able to find a workaround to it by use of an anonymizer.

 

During the search, law enforcers examined not only electronic devices but also the Witnesses' library. According to preliminary information, literature from the apartment headquarters of the religious organization also was examined for extremism. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 October 2016)

 

 

INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE PERSONNEL DESCEND UPON JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES WITH SEARCHES DURING SERVICE

by Margarita Zviagintseva

L!fe, 11 October 2016


Law enforcers inspected the apartment headquarters of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses and arrested several members of the religious organization.

 

At around 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 11 October, representatives of the Investigative Committee searched the apartment headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious organization in the Kalinin district of St. Petersburg.

 

As L!fe has learned, law enforcers appeared unexpectedly at the Kingdom Hall on Luga Street in the midst of a worship service. Personnel of the Investigative Committee interrogated the people who were in the apartment headquarters, after which they took all the men and several women with them.  (tr. by PDS, posted 15 October 2016)


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