JEHOVAH'S
WITNESS FROM
VORONEZH ALEXANDER KOROL REPORTS TORTURE AND ABUSE DURING
QUESTIONING
by
Viktoria Ponomareva
A
Jehovah's Witness
from Voronezh, Alexander Korol, described torture and abuse on
the part of
personnel of the MVD [Ministry of Internal Affairs] during
interrogation. This
is reported on the website Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.
According
to
information from members of the organization, 29-year-old
Alexander Korol, who
was arrested during widespread searches conducted in Voronezh on
13 July, was
tortured and beaten during interrogation. One of the agents put
a plastic bag
on his head and tied it around his neck, trying to force Korol
to give
information about other members of the organization.
The
attempt was
repeated several times, until the bag broke. At the same time,
Korol was struck
on the face several times. Law enforcement agents also
threatened to use
needles, the report of the organization says.
After
this, Korol was
taken away for another interrogation, and then to the MVD
department for
Khokholsky district, which is located 40 kilometers from
Voronezh. There the
detainee was placed in a temporary holding cell for 48 hours.
Jehovah's
Witnesses
report that the believer was released two days later without any
explanations.
"Since
Alexander
had no money and the police had confiscated his means of
communication, he had
to ask passers-by to loan him funds in order to get home, in
Voronezh,"
the organization reports.
Earlier
it was
reported that widespread searches were conducted in Voronezh in
homes of
followers of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses.
In conversation
with The Insider, a member of the leadership committee of the
Administrative
Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, Yaroslav Sivulsky,
explained that this
was the most extensive raid against representatives of the
organization in the
last several years.
In 2017
the Supreme
Court ruled that the activity of the religious organization of
Jehovah's
Witnesses was extremist and prohibited its activity in Russia.
Over the course
of several years, Jehovah's Witnesses in the country have been
regularly
searched and arrested. Several criminal cases have been opened. (tr. by PDS, posted
29 July 2020)
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