RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


Ukrainian authorities act against Russian harassment of Jehovah's Witnesses

CRIMEAN PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE OPENS CASE FOR ARREST OF FIVE JEHOVAH'S WITNSSES IN SEVASTOPOL

They were placed in custody until late November on extremism article

RISU, 4 October 2020

 

The prosecutor's office of Crimea opened a case because of searches and the detention of five Jehovah's Witnesses in Sevastopol. This is reported by LV.ua, with reference to the office's website.

 

"Criminal proceedings have been begun for the incidence of searches in the premises of suspected members of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Sevastopol and the subsequent detention of five persons," the report states.

 

Criminal proceedings were begun on the basis of part 2 of article 162 and part 2 of article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of privacy of domicile) and (unlawful detention). For these illegal actions the punishment is incarceration for a term of up to five years.

 

Russian news media are reporting that on Friday a court in Sevastopol placed in pretrial detention four persons who are "suspected of creating a cell of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, which are forbidden in the Russian Federation." They have been placed in custody until the last third of November.

 

The Jehovah's Witnesses reported the names of the detained Sevastopolitans on their website.

 

"Security forces in camouflage invaded the homes of at least nine local residents. Four men and one woman were placed in temporary holding cells, but by midnight (1 October) the woman had been released. . . . A criminal case on the extremism article was opened against them," the report states.

 

The office of the prosecutor of Crimea recalled that since the beginning of the occupation of the peninsula, the activity of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Crimea has been unlawfully forbidden, its adherents do not have the right of assembly, and they have been subjected to systematic illegal criminal prosecutions. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 October 2020)

 

FOUR JEHOVISTS HELD IN DETENTION IN SEVASTOPOL

Interfax-Religiia, 5 October 2020

 

Last Friday, a court in Sevastopol ordered that four residents of the city, who are suspected of creating a cell of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is forbidden in the R.F., be detained in custody, an informed source told Interfax.

 

"Searches occurred on 1 October. The Jehovists are being charged on the basis of article t282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (arranging the activity of an extremist organization). Today a measure of restraint was chosen—until the last third of November," the agency's source said.

 

The Jehovah's Witnesses reported the names of the detained Sevastopolitans on their website.

 

"Security forces in camouflage invaded the homes of at least nine local residents. Four men and one woman were placed in temporary holding cells, but by midnight (1 October) the woman had been released. . . . A criminal case on the extremism article was opened against them," the report notes.

 

Interfax does not posses an official confirmation of the information from law enforcement agencies and the court. There has not been a press release about events in Sevastopol on 1 and 2 October.

 

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, which considers Crimea to be its own but temporarily occupied territory, criminal proceedings have been started because of searches and arrests of the Sevastopol Jehovists on the basis of part 2, article 162 (violation of privacy of domicile) and part 2 of article 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (unlawful detention), the press service of the prosecutor's office of the A.R.K. (autonomous republic of Crimea) that is based in Kiev reported.

 

In April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court, on the basis of a lawsuit of the Russian Ministry of Justice, ruled the Russian Jehovah's Witnesses to be an extremist organization and prohibited their activity on the territory of the state. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 October 2020)

 

 

NEW WAVE OF SEARCHES IN HOMES OF BELIEVERS IN SEVASTOPOL. FOUR PEACEFUL CITIZENS SPEND FIRST NIGHT BEHIND BARS

Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 2 October 2020

 

On 1 October 2020 in Sevastopol police vans began arriving at the homes of believers.

Security forces in camouflage invaded the homes of at least nine local residents. Four men and one woman were placed in temporary holding cells, but by midnight the woman had been released. The rest are awaiting the decision of a court regarding a measure of restriction.

 

On 2 October 2020, the Lenin district court of Sevastopol placed four believers, who were arrested in the city the day before during widespread searches, in detention in SIZO No. 1 of Russia for the republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Fifty-year-old Evgeny Zhukov, 57-year-old Vladimir Maladyka, and 50-year-old Vladimir Sakada were confined until 30 November and 48-year-old Igor Shmidt, until 23 November 2020. A criminal case was opened against the believers on the basis of the article "arranging the activity of an extremist organization" (part 1, article 282.2 CC RF). At least one of the decisions regarding confinement was issued by Judge Viktor Klimakov. He did not accept the arguments of believers that after the liquidation of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses they did not participate in it, but the F.S.B. is charging them for ordinary religious profession. The SIZO in which the believers were placed is located at Lenin Boulevard, No. 4, of Simferopol.

 

The detainees are the married couple Natalia and Vladimir Maladika, Evgeny Zhukov, Vladimir Sakada, and Igor Shmidt. A criminal case has been opened against them on the basis of the extremism article.

 

It is notable that the investigator found a package of dry milk in the refrigerator of the Maladyka couple. After declaring that the notations on the package reminded him of a narcotic substance, the investigator unexpectedly sent the couple for a compulsory examination in a psycho-neurological clinic. (Later the expert analysis showed that it was milk in the package.) Natalia was released in the evening and Vladimir was placed in a holding cell. (tr. by PDS, posted 5 October 2020)

 


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