In the Stavropol region, a police raid on citizens during a picnic

On Saturday, August 26, 2017, 18 citizens who were resting with children on the shore of the lake in the vicinity of the city of Neftekumsk (Stavropol Territory) were blocked by a detachment of armed police officers who arrived by bus and 5 cars. Police Lieutenant Colonel Ostrikov, who led the operation, stated that "an anonymous call was received that Jehovah's Witnesses had gathered on the river, and they were banned." Under the threat of force, citizens were forced to enter a police bus and taken to the police station.

More than half of the detainees were children, the elderly and the disabled. For 3 hours, the police interrogated them, asking questions about their attitude to religion, and the children were interrogated despite the disagreement of their parents, without explaining their rights and obligations. The children were frightened and crying. Everyone, without exception, experienced severe stress. Some citizens noted in the interrogation record that they had experienced degrading treatment at the hands of the police. In particular, it was expressed in the fact that citizens were loaded into a dirty bus inside, they were not allowed to use the phone, they were escorted to the toilet, and they made sarcastic remarks during interrogation.

It is noteworthy that for several days before this event, the police went around the houses of these citizens, trying to establish their place of work, occupation, etc. Despite the absence of any signs of illegal actions, the police did not apologize to the citizens for the disrupted rest.