Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

Two additional Voronezh-based believers reported being tortured during detention. Both are imprisoned and one has a broken rib

Voronezh Region

Believers Yuriy Galka and Anatoliy Yagupov reported about the inhumane treatment through a lawyer, who visited them in the detention center. On the day of their detention they were strangled with bags and beaten, demanding a confession. Earlier, believers Bokov, Katyrov and Korol described the beatings.

Lawyers tried to get to Yagupov and Galka from the moment they were taken to pre-trial detention center #1 in Voronezh region, but the lawyer was allowed to see them only after 2 weeks, July 29 and 30.

It became known that 44-year-old Yuri Galka had a broken rib. The torture began during the search and continued during the interrogation. The FSB officers twisted his hands behind his back and put the bag over his head, tightening until Yuri began to suffocate. At this time, he was beaten, breaking a rib. He was required to confess to extremism and links with Jehovah's Witnesses. Upon admission to the pre-trial detention center, a rib fracture was revealed, but the staff of the institution, taking advantage of Yuriy's state of shock, wrote in the documents that he received injuries by household.

51-year-old Anatoliy Yagupov was tortured in a similar way: he was put a bag over his head and beaten on a chair, on which the interrogators put a Voronezh resident.

A total of five Voronezh Jehovah's Witnesses are now complaining about torture by law enforcement officials. Despite the torture, the Voronezh believers refused to admit guilt for crimes they had not committed. They recorded injuries in a medical facility to protest the actions of law enforcement officers.

On July 13, 2020 more than 110 searches of Jehovah's Witnesses houses were conducted in Voronezh and the region.

Case of Sokolov and Others in Voronezh

Case History
In one day, July 13, 2020, 110 searches were carried out in 7 settlements of the Voronezh Region — a record-breaking operation against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Five believers reported torture by the security forces. Ten men aged 24 to 56 years were charged by the Investigative Committee with organizing extremist activities and sent them to prison, where most of them were held for almost 5 months. The events in Voronezh caused a wide public outcry: the EU countries, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States, expressed regret and bewilderment in connection with the incident. The believers themselves do not admit guilt in extremism and emphasize that, as Christians, they respect the authorities and peacefully practice their religion in accordance with constitutional law. Consideration of the case in court began in December 2021. Believers face up to 10 years in prison.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Voronezh Region
Locality:
Voronezh (city)
Suspected of:
«... acting by 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 activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Central, Voronezh"" (from the indictment)
Court case number:
12002200045140020
Initiated:
July 3, 2020
Current case stage:
trial in court of first instance
Investigating:
1st Department for Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Voronezh Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-4/2024 (1-14/2023; 1-160/2022; 1-684/2021)
Court:
Левобережный районный суд г. Воронежа
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Евгения Ласкавая
Case History