Photo: Police escort a believer to a paddy wagon. Voronezh (July 2020)

Photo: Police escort a believer to a paddy wagon. Voronezh (July 2020)

Photo: Police escort a believer to a paddy wagon. Voronezh (July 2020)

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

The Largest Raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in Modern History: 110 Searches in One Day Throughout the Voronezh Region

Voronezh Region

In a press release of the Investigative Committee it is reported that on July 13, 2020, more than 110 searches were conducted in Voronezh and the region, two criminal cases were initiated under Article 282.2(1) of the Criminal Code and a few people were detained. Within one day, approximately 60 families have confirmed that their homes were raided

A few people reported that they were beaten by law enforcement officials. Details are being clarified. The news will be updated.

Case of Sokolov and Others in Voronezh

Case History
In one day, July 13, 2020, 110 searches were carried out in 7 settlements of the Voronezh Region — a record-breaking operation against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Five believers reported torture by the security forces. Ten men aged 24 to 56 years were charged by the Investigative Committee with organizing extremist activities and sent them to prison, where most of them were held for almost 5 months. The events in Voronezh caused a wide public outcry: the EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, expressed regret and bewilderment in connection with the incident. The believers themselves do not admit guilt in extremism and emphasize that, as Christians, they respect the authorities and peacefully practice their religion in accordance with constitutional law. Consideration of the case in court began in December 2021. Believers face up to 10 years in prison.
Timeline

Persons in case

Antyukhin
Aleksey
Baev
Sergey
Galka
Yuriy
Gurskiy
Valeriy
Popov
Igor
Korol
Aleksandr
Nerush
Vitaliy
Pankratov
Stepan
Sokolov
Yevgeniy
Veselov
Mikhail
Yagupov
Anatoliy

Criminal case

Region:
Voronezh Region
Locality:
Voronezh (city)
Suspected of:
«... acting by a group of persons by prior conspiracy ... made a criminal decision to commit deliberate actions of an organizational nature aimed at resuming and continuing the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Central, Voronezh"" (from the indictment)
Court case number:
12002200045140020
Initiated:
July 3, 2020
Current case stage:
trial in Court of First Instance
Investigating:
1st Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Voronezh Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-14/2023 (1-160/2022; 1-684/2021)
Court:
Левобережный районный суд г. Воронежа
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Евгения Ласкавая
Case History