BELIEVER IN PERM MOVED FROM DETENTION TO HOUSE ARREST
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 28 May 2018
On 24 May, in the city of Perm, after two days detention, a 48-year-old Jehovah's Witness, Alexander Soloviev, who was taken from a train and sent to a cell for temporary detention, was released from custody in the courtroom. A corresponding order was issued by Aleksei Riabov, a judge of the Sverdlov district court of the city of Perm. This decision by the court was greeted with relief by Soloviev's wife and their fellow believers.
Alexander Soloviev was being held as a defendant on the basis of part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the RF (participation in the activity of an extremist organization). This criminal case is a direct consequence of the decision of the Russian Supreme Court for the liquidation and prohibition of the activity of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Law enforcement personnel mistakenly interpret joint profession of religion as membership in an extremist organization.
An investigator for especially serious cases, A.E. Leontiev, asked the court to select for the believer a measure to assure appearance in the form of detention in custody. The investigator was supported by a senior assistant prosecutor of the territory, A. Kostarev. However the judge considered it possible to apply a more lenient measure—in the form of house arrest.
Soloviev is forbidden to leave his apartment, to use a telephone and the internet, to sent and receive mail and news media, and to communicate with people who are defendants or witnesses in this criminal case. (tr. by PDS, posted 28 May 2018)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.