F.S.B.
OPENS CRIMINAL
CASES AGAINST FAMILY OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES OF SAKHALIN
Za
Prava Cheloveka, 3
April 2020
On 20
March 2020, in
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, agents of the F.S.B. opened criminal cases
against a family
of Jehovah's Witnesses (an organization considered extremist in
the RF). As
jw-russia reports, an investigator of the investigation
department of the
F.S.B. directorate, D. Melnikov, opened a criminal case on the
basis of part 2
of article 282.2 of the CC RF (organizing an extremist
community) against a local
resident, Tatiana Kulakova. Earlier criminal cases had been
opened against her
son and husband also.
The
criminal
prosecution of the Kulakov family began back in December 2018.
At that time,
58-year-old Sergei Kulakov was accused of organizing an
extremist community
(282.2 (1) CC RF). In January 2019, searches were conducted in
homes of
believers. Eight months later, on 29 August 2019, Sergei's elder
son, Dmitry,
found himself among suspects under article 282.2 (2) of the CC
RF.
The
younger son of the
Kulakov family, Evgeny, is threatened with criminal prosecution
for
"avoiding performance of military service." The young man is
fighting
for the right to substitute alternative civilian service for
military service,
but thus far unsuccessfully. He lost in a court of first
instance and he has
turned to a higher-level court.
The
Kulakov family is
not unique in being subjected to criminal prosecution for their
faith.
According to information of jw-russia, in Russia no fewer than
20 instances of
the prosecution of whole families of Jehovah's Witnesses for
religious views
are known. (tr. by PDS, posted 3 April 2020)
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