A new criminal case for faith in Karelia. Mikhail Gordeev, 59, was detained at his workplace and placed on recognizance not to leave

On September 5, 2019, in Petrozavodsk (Karelia), FSB officers detained Mikhail Gordeev right at his workplace, suspecting him of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The man was searched, his tablet was seized and taken to the FSB department for interrogation.

Investigator Grigoriev provided Mikhail with a free lawyer. The interrogation lasted four hours. A criminal case was opened against the believer under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of extremist activity). He is suspected of "continuing the activities of an extremist religious organization in the city of Petrozavodsk." He was placed under recognizance agreement.

Persecution of residents of Karelia on religious grounds began at the end of July 2019, when mass searches were carried out in the homes of believers in two cities of the region. The authorities opened criminal cases against Aleksey Smelov, Maksim Amosov and Nikolay Leshchenko. These civilians are grieving unfair criminal prosecution.

In May 2017, a family of Jehovah's Witnesses from Karelia was awarded the Order of Parental Glory. Exemplary parents received the award from the hands of the head of state Vladimir Putin.