The Case of Chertov in Alushta

The Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol opens a criminal case against 52-year-old Jehovah's Witness Vladimir Chertov. He is charged with organizing the activities of an extremist organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Officers of the regional directorates of the FSB of Russia and the Center for Counteracting Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, supported by armed riot police, are conducting searches in the homes of several families of believers. Vladimir Chertov is detained and charged.

The court imposes a ban on certain actions on Vladimir Chertov as a preventive measure.

In Alushta, as part of the criminal case against Vladimir Chertov, at least 9 searches are being carried out in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses and persons who do not profess this religion. During searches, law enforcement officers confiscate electronic devices from believers. Everyone is interrogated at their place of residence. Several citizens become ill, the staff are forced to call an ambulance for them.

One of the believers, a man with severe chronic illnesses, is knocked down by law enforcement officers and pressed to the floor. His blood pressure rises.

During the search, the elderly woman's pulse increases to 170 beats per minute, she is taken to the hospital.

The believer is placed under a recognizance agreement.

The security forces come to search the office of Jehovah's Witness. They seize all electronic devices, hard drives and flash drives from the man. The believer is taken for interrogation to the local FSB department.

The security forces threaten the believer to keep him in custody until he agrees to cooperate. The man becomes ill, an ambulance is called for him and subsequently hospitalized.

The investigation has received a religious expert conclusion in the case of Vladimir Chertov. Expert Olga Griva from the Center for Expert Studies at the Vernadsky Crimean Federal University (CFU) evaluated the activity of Vladimir and more than 20 other individuals from Alushta, Yalta, and the surrounding villages. In her opinion, the believers continued the activity of the banned organization. By this, the expert means attending religious meetings (including via videoconferencing) and collecting donations.

The defense notes that the key document granting Olga Griva the right to conduct religious expert studies is a certificate of professional retraining in the field "Philosophy of Religion and Religious Studies," which was obtained after 3 months of study at the autonomous non-profit organization "Institute of Patriotic Education." The certificate was signed by Yuliya Normanskaya — Griva's colleague both in the Simferopol and Crimean Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church and at the Vernadsky CFU. Normanskaya herself has previously been involved in similar expert studies for criminal cases against believers in Crimea.

The Investigation has initiated a second criminal case against Vladimir Chertov — for financing the activity of an extremist organization. According to Investigator Captain of Justice A. Kirov, the believer "used his authority and well-developed willpower and organizational skills to organize the collection of funds [...] as donations," and also exercised "control over the financial activity" of the religious group. The ruling to initiate the criminal case cites sums transferred to Chertov in the fall of 2022: 1,000, 500, 400, and 500 rubles. Investigators claim that Chertov used these funds to pay for videoconferencing (Zoom).