IN ULIANOVSK ONE BELIEVER SENT TO PRISON, FOUR TO HOUSE ARREST
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 1 March 2019
On 28 February 2019, Judge Svetlana Chebukina of the Lenin district court of the city of Ulianovsk put 53-year-old Sergei Mysin behind bars. The man is accused of "creating an extremist organization" in connection with his religious confession. His wife, Natalia, and also 46-year-old Andrei Tabakov, 33-year-old Khoren Khachikian, and 58-year-old Mikhail Zelensky were placed under house arrest.
A case against the residents of Ulianovsk, who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, was opened by the local F.S.B. The believers are accused of "abetting the popularization of the ideas of Jehovah's Witnesses, promoting the superiority of these ideas over other religious teachings, seeking places for conducting meetings of members of this organization, and direct participation in the events that were conducted." On 27 February, searches were conducted in apartments.
According to the order of the court, Sergei Mysin will be detained in SIZO-1 for Ulianovsk oblast until 23 April 2019 inclusively. The man is charged with "creating an extremist organization" in connection with his religious confession. . . . (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2019)
CREATOR OF CELL OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND FOUR DEVOTEES OF SECT ARRESTED IN ULIANOVSK OBLAST
Interfax-Religiia, 28 February 2019
Personnel of security structures cut off the activity in Ulianovsk oblast of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, which is banned on the territory of the RF.
The press service of the directorate of the F.S.B. for the region reports on Thursday that the leader and active members of the cell "Jehovah's Witnesses of Ulianovsk" conducted conspiratorial meetings and individual classes for the study of extremist materials, promoted the superiority of the ideas of the organization over other religious teachings, and engaged in attracting new members into their group.
At the same time, they knew reliably that this organization was forbidden, the report notes.
Two criminal cases were opened on the basis of parts 1 and 2 of article 282.2 of the CC RF (creating and participating in the activity of an extremist organization). The question of the selection of pretrial measures of restriction for the detainees is being decided.
An informed source specified for Interfax that one organizer of the cell and four devotees of the sect were detained.
On 20 April 2017, on the basis of a lawsuit of the Russian Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court in Moscow ruled that the Russian Jehovah's Witnesses are an extremist organization and prohibited its activity on the territory of the country. (tr. by PDS, posted 1 March 2019)
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/.