In Saratov, searches were carried out at the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses. Two believers under house arrest

On November 16, 2023, searches were carried out at no less than at 6 addresses in Saratov. They affected at least 13 believers. Aleksey Vasilyev, 47, and Aleksey Yefremov, 59, were placed in a temporary detention facility, and a day later they were placed under house arrest.

The investigative actions were sanctioned by the Volzhsky District Court of Saratov on November 9, 2023, at the request of investigator Bulat Urazov. The raids began around 6 a. m. and lasted on average until noon. The security forces seized electronic devices, storage media, personal notes and greeting cards. The RF internal passport was also seized from one of the believers.

After the searches, all of the believers were interrogated at the local office of the Investigative Committee. Among them are a woman with a disability and a man, 64, suffering from heart disease, who felt ill during the interrogation. Despite this, he was kept at the investigative office for the longest time.

The criminal case on the basis of which the searches were carried out was initiated on October 31, 2023, under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC (participating in the activity of an extremist organization).

In the Saratov Region, 12 Jehovah's Witnesses have already become defendants in criminal cases for their faith in God: seven of them have served time in penal colonies, the other five men are defending their right in court to practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Russian human rights activists and the world community condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The ECHR found these prosecutions groundless and unlawful.