Searches of Jehovah's Witnesses Were Again Held in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Criminal Case Initiated Against 55-Year-Old Believer

On November 25, 2021, in Lesosibirsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory), searches were carried out in the homes of 6 believers. It became known that a criminal case was initiated against 55-year-old Valeriy Shitz under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization).

The searches began early in the morning, when officers of the FSB and the Investigative Committee came to the houses of believers. Electronic devices, information carriers, as well as Bibles and religious literature were seized from civilians. In some cases, law enforcement officers took photographs and videos. After the searches, Valeriy Shitz and several other believers were taken for interrogation, after which they were released.

On November 19, 2021, Hakob Stepanyan, an investigator of the Investigation Department for the city of Lesosibirsk, of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia, opened a criminal case against Valeriy Shitz. According to the investigation, the believer "organized and conducted meetings of adherents in the form of collective worship, taught the preaching work of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, and carried out actions aimed at promoting the activities of a banned organization."

On November 26, 2021, the judge of the Lesosibirskiy District Court of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Aleksey Knyazev, decided to choose for Valeriy Shitz a ban on certain actions as a preventive measure — communication with witnesses in the case and persons who are not his close relatives, the use of mail and the Internet are banned for him. The believer is also prohibited from leaving the city of Lesosibirsk.

Lesosibirsk has joined the list of cities in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, where 17 more civilians are currently being prosecuted. The harshest sentence in this region was passed on 47-year-old Andrey Stupnikov — 6 years in a penal colony.