SEARCHES AND INTERROGATIONS OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES HELD IN MAGADAN
In several homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in Magadan, in the morning of 20 March, searches were conducted. According to various information, which was published by Sergei Telny on his blog, the searches were conducted in 4 or 9 homes of believers, whose inhabitants were taken to the F.S.B. for interrogation. According to law enforcement personnel, nine new criminal cases for professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which F.S.B. personnel interpret as "continuation of the activity of an extremist organization," were opened.
During the searches, all the electronic devices were seized from the citizens: tablets, smart phones, laptops, cameras, memory cards, and flash drives, as well as notebooks and other personal items. The search of the Solntsev family was conducted in the presence of their nine-year-old child.
Almost a year ago in Magadan, a criminal case was already opened against the Jehovah's Witnesses in which four believers spent several months in a SIZO. Now all four are under house arrest.
On 20 April 2017, the Russian Supreme Court ruled the Russian organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist and it banned their activity. The court's decision says nothing about finding international organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist or about a ban on citizens' choosing the religious convictions of this confession. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 March 2019)
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