Households of believers searched in four cities of Crimea Criminal case initiated

 CRIMEA

Households of believers searched in four cities of Crimea Criminal case initiated

August 18, 2023 Crimea

On August 14 and 16, 2023, at least nine searches were carried out at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in Armyansk, Simferopol, Saki, and Dzhankoy in four Crimean cities.

In Simferopol, the house of Ekaterina Melniychuk was searched. The woman became ill, her husband's blood pressure rose. Ekaterina was informed that a criminal case had been opened against her and, after interrogation, she was released on bail.

Dmitry Zakharevich, the son-in-law of Alexander Voronchikhin, who was involved in one of the cases for his faith in Simferopol, was also subjected to a search. On the same day, the man received a decision to bring him in as a defendant in a criminal case. At the request of investigator V. A. Novikov, the court placed him and another believer under house arrest.

In Armyansk, security forces searched a man in two of his dwellings. After that, the believer was taken for interrogation. In the town of Saki, seven balaclava-wearing security officials, four of whom were armed, conducted a two-hour search of the home of a 62-year-old believer. His electronic devices were confiscated.

The details of the searches in Dzhankoy are not yet known.

At the moment, 25 residents of Crimea have been prosecuted for their faith. Six of them are serving sentences in the colony.

Case of Voronchikhin and others in Simferopol

Brief history of the case

In November 2022, the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for their faith resumed in Crimea. Soon, in the Simferopol region, searches were carried out at least at 16 addresses of believers. Dmitry Naukhatsky was detained and placed under house arrest, while Alexander Voronchikhin was interrogated and ordered not to leave. The Investigative Committee accused these men of organizing the activities of an extremist organization for holding worship services. In August, new searches were carried out in Armyansk, Simferopol and Saki, including those of Voronchikhin's son-in-law. There are new defendants in the case.

Criminal case

Region:

Crimea

Locality:

Simferopol

What is suspected:

“performed active actions of an organizational nature, expressed in the organization of propaganda meetings at which discussions were held on the texts and religious provisions of the Jehovah’s Witnesses” (from the decision to initiate a criminal case)

Case number:

12202350020000180

Initiated:

November 17, 2022

Current stage of the case:

preliminary investigation

Investigating:

the first investigative department for investigating particularly important cases of the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)