In Ivanovo region, a believer was sent to jail for 2 months

On January 28, 2019, Larisa Zubova, judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Ivanovo, sent 32-year-old Yevgeny Spirin to the pre-trial detention center for 2 months only for his faith in God. A. Dmitriev, investigator of the FSB of Russia for the Ivanovo region, and A. Tsitskeev, assistant prosecutor of the Oktyabrsky district of the city of Ivanovo, petitioned the court for his detention.

It is known that the case against Yevgeny Spirin was initiated on January 21, 2019 by the investigator of the FSB of Russia in the Ivanovo region A. Dmitriev.

On January 27, 2019, Yevgeny Spirin, a resident of Furmanov (Ivanovo region), was detained by FSB officers. On this day, the FSB conducted searches in the city in the homes of citizens who are suspected of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Yevgeniy Spirin was brought to the criminal case under Article 282.2 (1) as an accused. Investigators charge Yevgeniy Spirin with "committing actions aimed at the resumption and continuation of the illegal activities of the said religious organization ["structural unit of the religious organization" Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia "], namely, he convened and held meetings of this organization, carried out religious conversations with residents of the Ivanovo region in order to promote it.

This is the second criminal case against Jehovah's Witnesses in the Ivanovo region. The first case in Shuya was initiated by the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Ivanovo Region against Dmitry Mikhailov, his wife Yelena and 3 other people under Articles 282.2 (2) and 282.3 (1). Dmitry Mikhailov spent 171 days in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Ivanovo region, then was released on his own recognizance.

Law enforcers mistakenly mistake citizens' religion for participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Prominent public figures of Russia, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, as well as the President of the Russian Federation himself drew attention to this problem. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism and insist on their complete innocence. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually."