Searches of Jehovah's Witnesses Were Carried out in Kerch. A New Criminal Case Was Initiated for Faith

In the early morning of October 9, 2024, security forces searched at least ten addresses of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kerch (Crimea). A criminal case was initiated against Vitaliy Burik, 53, for organizing the activities of an extremist organization. After two days of detention, he was placed under house arrest.

Burik was detained right at his workplace in the boiler room. The security forces invaded the enterprise, cut a thick chain from the gate, and took the believer home for search. In addition, they searched the apartment and two garages belonging to Burik's relatives.

The security forces also searched the home of Artem Shabliy, who had previously been convicted under an extremist article because of his belonging to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Other families raided by security forces this morning have also been searched in the past because of their religion.

The raid on the houses of believers was carried out by investigators of the local department of the Investigative Committee, accompanied by armed special forces soldiers from Simferopol. In some cases, the security forces behaved rudely and demanded passwords from electronic devices. Digital equipment was confiscated from the believers, after which they were taken for interrogation to the local branch of the Investigative Committee. After 4:00 p.m., everyone except Vitaliy Burik was released.

A criminal case against a believer under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is conducted by the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for Crimea. The search warrant was issued by the Kievskiy District Court of Simferopol.