A new Criminal Case and Searches on Sakhalin. Believers Suspected of Extremism Because of Bible Discussion

On August 22, 2023, searches were carried out at at least at two addresses in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and in the port city of Korsakov. Four people were detained for interrogation, after which the security forces released them.

Early in the morning, law enforcement officers knocked on the door of Roman Gumenyuk, 39, and his wife. The believers opened the door, after which Sergey Nevidimov, Senior Investigator of the Korsakov Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Sakhalin Region, acquainted them with the search warrant as part of a criminal case initiated under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). The search took place in the presence of an armed security officer, a technical specialist and two witnesses. Flash drives, laptops, tablets, as well as personal records were seized from believers. A search was also conducted in the car from which the phone was seized.

That same morning, law enforcement officers came to the couple Yegor Bayevskiy and his wife Vera. All electronic devices and storage media, a webcam, and an electronic photo frame were seized from them. The search was led by senior investigator Marina Bykova. Law enforcement officers behaved respectfully, but they did not respond to complaints about her feeling ill and requests to call the ambulance for Bayevskiy's wife.

In both cases, the searches lasted approximately two hours. Then the believers were taken to the Korsakov Investigative Department and interrogated.

Five believers from the Sakhalin region have already received suspended sentences for their beliefs.