Raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in Rostov-on-Don

Early in the morning of May 22, 2019, law enforcement officers invaded at least 4 apartments of Rostov residents who were suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Men and women were detained. Some are released, the fate of others is being clarified.

When 50-year-old Sergey Khotov opened the door, the security forces threw him to the floor and twisted his hands behind his back. Later, he was picked up and his apartment was searched, electronic devices were seized, as well as the Synodal edition of the Bible. The search was carried out by employees of the Center for Countering Extremism of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Rostov Region, including the deputy head of the center with the rank of lieutenant colonel of police.

Law enforcement officers inappropriately call the religion of citizens participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, as well as international organizations - the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - drew attention to this problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually."