Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

The Court Placed a Man and a Woman in a Pre-Trial Detention Center After a Wave of Searches at Believers in Primorye Territory

Primorye Territory

On October 6, 2022, in the village of Yaroslavskiy (Primorye Territory), searches were carried out at 12 addresses of those whom the investigation considers to be Jehovah's Witnesses. Two believers—Boris Andreyev, 70, and Nataliya Sharapova, 49,—were detained. The next day, the court sent them to a pre-trial detention center.

According to preliminary information, Andreyev is suspected of organizing the activities of a banned organization (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and Sharapova of involvement in this activity (part 1.1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

It is known that they will spend at least 22 days in a pre-trial detention center. Some believers, including the elderly, were seized phones by law enforcement officers. After the searches, several people were interrogated.

Update. It became known that on October 12, another believer from the village of Yaroslavskiy, Anatoliy Lee, 37, was arrested. He spent a day in a temporary detention center located in the neighboring village of Khorol, after which the court ruled to send him to a pre-trial detention center until October 28, 2022. Lee is another person involved in the criminal case initiated against Boris Andreyev and Nataliya Sharapova.

This is already the 17th criminal case for faith in Primorye Territory. Twelve Jehovah's Witnesses from the region have been convicted.

The case of Andreev and others in Yaroslavsky

Case History
In October 2022, security forces conducted searches at 12 addresses of believers in the village of Yaroslavsky in Primorye. Earlier, a case was initiated against Anatoly Lee and unidentified persons under the article on organizing the activities of an extremist organization. As part of this case, Anatoly Lee himself and two other believers, Boris Andreev and Natalya Sharapova, ended up in a pre-trial detention center. The case went to court in September 2023.
Timeline

Persons in case

Andreyev
Boris
Li
Anatoliy
Sharapova
Nataliya

Criminal case

Region:
Primorye Territory
Locality:
Yaroslavsky
Court case number:
12202050023000021
Initiated:
October 3, 2022
Current case stage:
trial in Court of First Instance
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Territory
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-183/2023
Court of First Instance:
Хорольский районный суд Приморского края
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Татьяна Погорелая
Case History