Photo: Special forces breaking down the door to the apartment of believers (Polyarny, April 18, 2018)

Photo: Special forces breaking down the door to the apartment of believers (Polyarny, April 18, 2018)

Photo: Special forces breaking down the door to the apartment of believers (Polyarny, April 18, 2018)

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Searches and detentions of 5 believers in Ulyanovsk

Ulyanovsk Region

On February 27, 2019, at least four apartments of local residents suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses were searched in Ulyanovsk. A number of citizens were detained and taken for interrogation to the local department of the FSB. Five citizens were detained for 48 hours to choose a measure of restraint for them.

Sergey Mysin, 53, and his wife Natalia (the couple have a daughter), Andrey Tabakov, 46, Khoren Khachikyan, 33, and Mikhail Zelensky, 58, were detained.

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, the President of the Russian Federation, as well as international organizations - the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - 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."

Case of Zelenskiy and Others in Ulyanovsk

Case History
In 2019, the FSB in Ulyanovsk opened a case against the Mysins and their co-religionists Zelensky, Tabakov, Ganin and Khachikyan. After the searches, they were sent to jail and later under house arrest. In addition, savings and cars worth 1.5 million rubles were seized from believers. The charge under Article 282.2 was limited to participation in “activities that included religious chanting, preaching, study of the article and prayer.” Believers were seriously worried about the repressions, Sergey Mysin, who spent 2 months behind bars, ended up in intensive care. The state prosecutor recommended that all six be sent to a general regime colony for terms ranging from 3 to 7 years, as well as confiscate the seized property and money. The court of first instance sentenced them to suspended imprisonment for terms of up to 3.5 years. The court of appeal increased the suspended sentence for Sergey Mysin by six months - up to 4 years - and left the sentences unchanged for the rest of the believers.
Timeline

Persons in case

Ganin
Aleksandr
Khachikyan
Khoren
Mysin
Sergey
Mysina
Nataliya
Tabakov
Andrey
Zelenskiy
Mikhail

Criminal case

Region:
Ulyanovsk Region
Locality:
Ulyanovsk
Suspected of:
“popularization of the ideas of Jehovah's Witnesses, promoting the superiority of these ideas over other religious teachings, finding venues for meetings of participants in this organization, and direct participation in meetings.”
Court case number:
11907730001000006
Initiated:
February 24, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Department of the FSB Directorate of Russia for the Ulyanovsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-220/2020
Court of First Instance:
Zaviyazhskiy District Court of the City of Ulyanovsk
Case History
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