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A New Wave of Searches in Khabarovsk Region, One Believer Detained
Khabarovsk TerritoryUpdated December 24, 2020.
On December 21, 2020, at least 9 searches were conducted in the apartments of local believers in the town of Bikin and the village of Lermontovka (Khabarovsk Territory). A few people were detained for questioning, but were released the same day. Sergey Kazakov, a 46-year-old resident of Bikin, was arrested and sent to pre-trial detention center in Khabarovsk.
Sergey Kazakov came to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to take care of his mother after a stroke. There, in her apartment, he was found by investigators. A search was conducted, Kazakov was taken from Kamchatka and placed in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Khabarovsk. His mother was left without help. Moreover, three days later she started to show symptoms of covid. It is probable that she was infected during the search. Sergey Kazakov's state of health in the pre-trial detention center is unknown.
The house of 48-year-old Vladimir Agarkov was broken into by the FSS officers early in the morning. The search was carried out by investigator of Vyazemsky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Khabarovsk Krai and EAD Yakimov N. E., as well as three officers of the local FSB. A search warrant was issued by the court on 10 December 2020. Four telephones, a tablet and a laptop were seized. Immediately after the start of the search the believer's wife became ill, an ambulance was not called. During the interrogation, the investigator offered Vladimir to voluntarily surrender the items related to the "crime". Then Vladimir was taken for interrogation to the commandant's office of the Border Troops on Matronin Street. Vladimir notes that his wife was being watched because she often noticed the same car nearby.
During other searches, bank cards, phones and flash drives were seized from the believers. Their relatives were also deprived of their bank cards. During interrogations, believers were asked questions such as: "Are there Jehovah's Witnesses in your area and in neighboring villages?" "What time do you gather?" "Do you have a conference connection?" "Is there printed literature?"
It later became known that in addition to Kazakov, at least one other woman from the town of Bikin was among the suspects in the criminal case for her faith.
Update.
At 06:00, a woman knocked on Olga Mirgorodskaya's apartment in the village of Lermontovka (50 km from Bikin) and asked to call an ambulance. When Olga's husband opened the door, law enforcement officers burst in and pinned him to the wall. They searched the apartment in the presence of a 9-year-old child for four and a half hours. Spiritual books, personal records, electronic media and a telephone were seized. Investigator A. Khanin said that a criminal case was opened against Olga. After the search the believer was taken for interrogation.
Law enforcement officers took advantage of worshippers' compassion, trying to get into their homes: they pretended to be people who were involved in car accidents, asking for help, etc. In search of "extremist" words, they searched for sheets of personal notes in trash cans and trays of kitty litter, confiscated Bibles in the Synodal translation, explaining this by the fact that it contained the name of God.
