Investigators have opened criminal cases against at least 30 people. It is unknown when any of them will appear in court. If eventually tried, they could face up to between six and 10 years' imprisonment.
Source/Credit: Forum 18
By Victoria Arnold | June 6, 2018
Law enforcement agencies launched multiple armed raids on Jehovah's Witnesses' homes in four further regions. Long interrogations followed, including of an 83-year-old woman. Courts put another five people in pre-trial custody as they face criminal investigation. Twelve Jehovah's Witnesses are now behind bars, with at least 30 facing criminal cases.
Russia's crackdown on Jehovah's Witnesses across the country is gathering pace. Law enforcement agencies launched multiple armed raids in another four regions in the space of a week in late May and early June, followed by lengthy interrogations and detentions. Courts have put another five people in pre-trial custody.
The latest five arrests bring the total number of Jehovah's Witnesses known to be behind bars to 12.
Investigators have opened criminal cases against at least 30 people. It is unknown when any of them will appear in court. If eventually tried, they could face up to between six and 10 years' imprisonment.
The late May/early June raids in Tomsk, Khabarovsk, Magadan, and Naberezhnyye Chelny (Republic of Tatarstan) followed a now-familiar pattern: law enforcement operatives from a variety of agencies, including armed men in masks and body armour, arrive at Jehovah's Witnesses' homes usually late at night or early in the morning. The occupants are sometimes made to lie on the floor or face the wall while the officers search their flats and houses. Officers then confiscate a similar range of possessions – electronic devices, bank cards, personal photographs, and books – and take the Jehovah's Witnesses, including children and the elderly, to a police station or Investigative Committee office for questioning. Interrogations can last several hours, after which most people are released (some under travel restrictions). Others are kept in temporary detention until investigators decide whether to apply to a court for longer-term restrictive measures – they must do this within 48 hours of the initial detention.
These followed similar earlier raids across Orenburg Region and in the cities of Birobidzhan (Jewish Autonomous Region) and Perm in May, and in Ufa (Republic of Bashkortostan), Polyarny (Murmansk Region), Shuya (Ivanovo Region), and Vladivostok in April.
The wave of searches and arrests began in Belgorod and Kemerovo in January and February.
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Read original post here: Russia: Campaign of raids, arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses intensifies
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