Further Raids Against Jehovah's Witnesses. Elderly Woman from Moscow Region and Resident of Novorossiysk are Prosecuted for Their Faith

A series of searches and interrogations of Jehovah's Witnesses took place from 19- 23 December 2024, in Dubna and the village of Zaprudnya near Moscow, as well as in the Krasnodar Territory. At least two people were detained on charges for extremism. One of them still remains behind bars.

In the Moscow Region, searches began on Thursday, December 19, at 5:30 a.m., and affected four families. At least five people were taken for interrogation to the Directorate of the Investigative Committee in Dmitrov. According to the believers, the investigators pressured them, insisting that they sign a waiver to participate in the court proceedings for the recognition of the searches as lawful. Everyone except Galina Inkina was released shortly after. The next day, the court imposed on her a preventive measure that was not related to detention. The believer was fitted with a tracking bracelet.

Dmitriy Mladov, 45, a resident of Novorossiysk, was detained by law enforcement officers four days later in the Krasnodar Territory. Traffic police officers stopped the car in which Dmitriy was traveling with his wife. After checking their documents, they took them for interrogation to the department for counteracting extremism. He was searched, after which he was taken to the Moscow Region and placed in a temporary detention facility in the town of Taldom.

Two weeks earlier, five believers had been arrested as a result of searches in Moscow and the Moscow Region. Thus, the total number of Jehovah's Witnesses facing criminal prosecution for their faith in Moscow and the Moscow Region has exceeded 25.