New Searches and a Criminal Case in Moscow and the Moscow region. Aleksandr Serebryakov, Previously Convicted for his Faith, Was Detained

 RUSSIA


New Searches and a Criminal Case in Moscow and the Moscow region. Aleksandr Serebryakov, Previously Convicted for his Faith, Was Detained

September 21, 2023


On September 19, 2023, at least 9 families of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in several districts of Moscow and in the Moscow region (Solnechnogorsk, Fryazino, Dmitrov, and Chekhov). Aleksandr Serebryakov, who is serving a suspended sentence, was sent to a pre-trial detention center on the basis of a new charge.


Six days earlier, the senior investigator of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the city of Moscow, Captain of Justice Roman Ivanov, opened a case against Serebryakov and unidentified persons under the article on financing the activities of an extremist organization. According to the lawyer, Aleksandr is charged with actions in the period from 2018 to 2019, when he was already accused under another article.


The search in the apartment where the Serebryakov family lives began early in the morning and lasted about three hours. It was led by the senior detective of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow, Police Major A.V. Tretyakov. There were 7 other people with him, some of them were armed. After the search, Aleksandr was taken to the Investigative Committee for interrogation. On September 20, 2023, the judge of the Savelovsky District Court, Dmitriy Neudakhin, chose a measure of restraint for the believer in the form of detention until November 13, 2023.


The homes of the Jehovah's Witnesses family in Fryazino were searched at their place of residence. The decision for investigative actions was issued by the Timiryazevsky District Court. The searches were led by police lieutenant A.V. Bigishnin. 60-year-old spouses were offered to stipulate co-religionists for money, but they refused. One of the witnesses was drunk and threatened the couple. Due to stress, the head of the family had a strong blood pressure. After the search, he was taken for questioning to the Investigative Committee as a witness.


Armed security forces in masks broke into another family at 7 a. m., filming what was happening on their phones. The head of the family was laid face down on the floor and handcuffed. Later, seeing no resistance and learning that his 15-year-old daughter should not worry because of a serious illness, the handcuffs were removed from him. The search lasted 3.5 hours. It was led by FSB Lieutenant Colonel Denis Kozlov. Then the head of the family was taken in a minibus with armed guards for questioning to the Investigative Committee to investigator Pavel Pavlov.


During the searches, money, Bibles, bank cards, personal records, electronic devices and other information carriers were seized from believers.


In Moscow and the Moscow region, 19 Jehovah's Witnesses have already become defendants in criminal cases because of their religious views. Of these, 9 people were sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony, and five, including an elderly woman, were given suspended sentences.


Criminal case


Region:

Moscow

Locality:

Moscow

Criminal case number:

12302450011000183

Initiated:

September 13, 2023

Current stage of the case:

preliminary investigation

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.3 (1)

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