Series of Searches in the Ivanovo Region. Security Officials Seek Evidence of Jehovah's Witnesses Activity

Early in the morning on Saturday, April 11, 2020, in the midst of quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic, in the city of Teykovo, Ivanovo Region, security forces invaded the apartments of four believers' families, exposing them to the risk of contracting a deadly disease. This time there were no detentions, but electronic devices and personal belongings were seized from believers.

The reason for the searches was a criminal case on the organization of extremist activities (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), initiated on April 10, 2020 by the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Ivanovo region. According to the sad tradition, the investigators considered extremism to be the practice of worship and conversations with people about God, which is familiar to Jehovah's Witnesses around the world. During the searches, law enforcement officers were looking for evidence that four men (the eldest of them is 64 years old, and the youngest is 50 years old) continued the activities of the "banned local religious organization" of believers.

During the search, the believers and their families experienced stress. "The pressure has risen. I was worried about my wife and daughter, who were also worried. The daughter shared later that at first she was scared, but then she prayed and saw a photo of our family on the wall, it helped her calm down a little, "said one of the owners of the apartment where the search took place.

According to him, the security forces seized his daughter's tablet, depriving her of the opportunity to study - due to the quarantine associated with the coronavirus pandemic, the girl is undergoing distance learning.

This time there were no arrests, but electronic devices and personal belongings were seized from believers. Some believers were not provided with a copy of the search protocol by the security forces. All were issued summons to appear for interrogation, scheduled for April 16 and 17, 2020.

In the Ivanovo region, criminal cases have been initiated against 10 people. The case of one of the believers, Yevgeniy Spirin, is already being heard in court.