In Ivanovo region, a believer left the pre-trial detention center after 171 days in custody

On November 15, 2018, the Court of Appeal overturned the order for further detention of Dmitry Mikhailov, a 40-year-old resident of Shuya (Ivanovo region), who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. He left pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Ivanovo region after spending almost six months in it.

The case of the Mikhailov spouses and others in Shuya was initiated under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to investigators, the Mikhailovs, together with unidentified persons, participated in worship services. The Investigative Committee mistakenly interprets this as participation in and financing of the activities of an "extremist organization" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses), while the Russian government officially states that the decision of the Supreme Court "does not contain a restriction or prohibition on the individual practice of the above doctrine." "There is a contradiction between the declared position of the Government of the Russian Federation and law enforcement practice. This cannot but cause concern, since criminal prosecutions and arrests have become systemic," the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights said in a statement .