Photo: Police escort a believer to a paddy wagon. Voronezh (July 2020)

Photo: Police escort a believer to a paddy wagon. Voronezh (July 2020)

Photo: Police escort a believer to a paddy wagon. Voronezh (July 2020)

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

The Largest Raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in Modern History: 110 Searches in One Day Throughout the Voronezh Region

Voronezh Region

In a press release of the Investigative Committee it is reported that on July 13, 2020, more than 110 searches were conducted in Voronezh and the region, two criminal cases were initiated under Article 282.2(1) of the Criminal Code and a few people were detained. Within one day, approximately 60 families have confirmed that their homes were raided

A few people reported that they were beaten by law enforcement officials. Details are being clarified. The news will be updated.

The Case of Sokolov and Others in Voronezh

Case History
On a single day, July 13, 2020, 110 searches were carried out in seven localities of the Voronezh Region — a record-breaking operation against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Five believers reported being tortured by law enforcement officers. The Investigative Committee charged 10 men (then aged 24 to 56) with organizing extremist activity and sent them to pretrial detention, where most remained for nearly 5 months. The events in Voronezh sparked widespread public outcry: EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, expressed regret and dismay over what had happened. The believers deny any guilt in extremism and emphasize that, as Christians, they respect the authorities and peacefully practice their faith in accordance with their constitutional rights. The trial began in December 2021. Nearly 4 years later, the believers were given various punishments — ranging from a 6-year suspended sentence to 7 years in a penal colony.
Timeline

Persons in case

Antyukhin
Aleksey
Baev
Sergey
Galka
Yuriy
Gurskiy
Valeriy
Popov
Igor
Korol
Aleksandr
Nerush
Vitaliy
Pankratov
Stepan
Sokolov
Yevgeniy
Veselov
Mikhail
Yagupov
Anatoliy

Criminal case

Region:
Voronezh Region
Locality:
Voronezh (city)
Suspected of:
«... acting as a group of persons by prior conspiracy... made a criminal decision to commit deliberate actions of an organizational nature aimed at resuming and continuing the activity of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Tsentralnaya, Voronezh"» (from the indictment)
Court case number:
12002200045140020
Initiated:
July 3, 2020
Current case stage:
verdict did not take effect
Investigating:
1st Department for Investigating Especially Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Voronezh Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-1/2025 (1-4/2024; 1-14/2023; 1-160/2022; 1-684/2021)
[i18n] Court of the first instance:
Levoberezhnyy District Court of the City of Voronezh
[i18n] Judge:
Yevgeniya Laskavaya
Case History
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