Searches and Criminal Case in the Chelyabinsk Region

On March 26, 2019, at approximately 7:00 a.m., there was a soft knock on the door of the apartment where the spouses Pavel and Elena Popov live with their young daughter in Yemanzhelinsk (Chelyabinsk region). The owners were told through the door that there was some kind of accident with their car in the yard. When they opened the door, they saw about 10 masked men with machine guns and a sledgehammer to kick down the door.

The couple were informed that their home would be searched because they professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. A computer, phones, tablets, family photos, books and passports were seized. After the search, the spouses were taken for interrogation to another city, presumably to Chelyabinsk. The child was left in the care of family friends. According to law enforcement officers, whether the spouses will be arrested "depends on how they cooperate." (Law enforcement officers across the country have threatened believers to incriminate themselves or others by "confessing" to engaging in extremist activities.) The case against believers is being handled by the Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Committee of Russia in the Chelyabinsk Region.

Simultaneously with the operational activities in Yemanzhelinsk, searches in the homes of believers, according to reports, are taking place in the Metallurgichesky district of Chelyabinsk.

Earlier, after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, the Russian Federation admitted that it had violated the rights of 150 deaf Jehovah's Witnesses in Chelyabinsk in connection with the disruption of their worship services, and paid 30,000 euros in compensation for moral damage and 60,544 euros in compensation for legal costs. The ECHR ruling in this case, known as Konstantin Kuznetsov and Others v. Russian Federation, states: "It is undeniable that the joint study and discussion of liturgical texts by members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community is a recognized form of professing [their] religion during worship and teaching." This ruling was issued in 2007.

Update. A total of 10 searches were conducted in the homes of believers in the Chelyabinsk region on March 26, 2019.