SEARCHES
CONDUCTED IN
HOMES OF FOUR FAMILIES OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN IVANOVO OBLAST
by
Daniil Kuznetsov
7
x 7 Ivanovskaia
Oblast, 14 April 2020
In
Taikovo of Ivanovo
oblast, security forces arrived for searches in four families of
adherents of
Jehovah's Witnesses. This was reported on 14 April on the
website of devotees
of this confession.
According
to
information of the website Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia,
investigators came to
the homes of Teikovo believers for searches in the morning of 11
April, and
they confiscated from them all electronic devices, including a
tablet of a
young daughter of one of the adherents which she used to study
remotely during
the pandemic of the coronavirus.
"In
accordance
with the sad tradition that has developed, investigators
considered the
practice of worship services and conversation about God with
people, which are
usual for Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the world, to be
extremism. During the
searches, law enforcement agents sought for evidence that the
four men (the
oldest of them is 64 years and the youngest is 50) continued the
activity 'of a
forbidden local religious organization' of believers," devotees
of this
confession wrote on their website.
Continuation
of the
activity of a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses also has
become the basis for
opening a criminal case about extremist activity. Investigators
wrote out
summons to interrogation on 16 and 17 April for the objects of
the searches.
The criminal case itself was opened on 10 April.
A trial
of one of the
leaders of the Furmanov congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses,
Evgeny Spirin, has
been dragging out in Ivanovo oblast since January 2019. He spent
160 days in a
SIZO and 167 days under house arrest on the accusation that he
organized
worship services of his fellow believers. In December 2019 he
was released from
detention without any measure of restriction. (tr. by PDS,
posted 14 April
2020)
SERIES
OF SEARCHES
CONDUCTED IN IVANOVO OBLAST
Security
agents
sought evidence of affiliation with Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's
Witnesses
in Russia, 14 April 2020
Early in
the morning
of Saturday, 11 April 2020, in the midst of the quarantine
because of the
pandemic of coronavirus, groups of security agents in the city
of Teikovo of
Ivanovo oblast burst into the apartments of four families of
believers,
exposing them to a risk of infection with the deadly dangerous
disease.
The
reason for the
searches was a criminal case regarding arranging extremist
activity (part 1,
article 282.2 of CC RF), which was opened on 10 April 2020 by
the Investigation
Department of the Russian MVD for Ivanovo oblast. In accordance
with the sad
tradition that has developed, investigators considered the
practice of worship
services and conversation about God with people, which are usual
for Jehovah's
Witnesses throughout the world, to be extremism. During the
searches, law
enforcement agents sought for evidence that the four men (the
oldest of them is
64 years and the youngest is 50) continued the activity "of a
forbidden
local religious organization" of believers.
During
the search,
believers and their families suffered stress. "My blood pressure
went up.
I worried about my wife and daughter, who also experienced
distress. My
daughter shared later that at first she was frightened, but then
she prayed and
caught sight of a photo of our family on the wall, and this
helped her to calm
down some," one of the owners of an apartment where the search
was
conducted explained
He said
that the
security agents seized his daughter's tablet, depriving her of
the possibility
of studying. The daughter is undergoing distance learning
because of the
quarantine connected with the coronavirus pandemic.
This
time arrests
were avoided, although electronic devices and personal items
were taken from
the believers. Several believers were not provided a copy of the
search report
by security agents. All of them were given summons to appear for
interrogation
scheduled for 16 and 17 April 2020.
At the
present time,
criminal cases have been opened in Ivanovo oblast against ten
persons. The case
of one of the believers, Evgeny Spirin, has already been heard
in court. (tr.
by PDS, posted 14 April 2020)
Related article:
Jehovah's Witness moved from cell to house
arrest in Ivanovo oblast,
July 13, 2019
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