"We have to get to the bottom of the truth." In Surgut, the head of the Human Rights Council interviewed believers who were tortured

On August 14, 2019, Mikhail Fedotov, head of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), met in Surgut (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area) with local Jehovah's Witnesses, who officially announced the torture inflicted on them on February 15, 2019 by employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation.

The meeting was held in the conference hall of the Central City Library named after A. Pushkin. In addition to human rights defenders, it was attended by the head of the Investigative Committee in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the first deputy prosecutor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the deputy governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and the mayor of Surgut. The heads of law enforcement agencies were unable to explain why, despite strong evidence, a criminal case on the fact of torture has not yet been opened. On the part of the believers, there were 28 people – victims, as well as members of their families, who helped them cope with the psychological consequences of their experiences. In addition, the believers told what pressure they were subjected to from law enforcement officers: mothers were intimidated by the weaning of children, wives by the fact that they would not see their husbands, husbands by the fact that their wives would be put in cells and raped, etc. After the initiation of a criminal case, they cannot live normally: someone is asked to quit their jobs; someone is afraid to let children go outside; someone shrinks with fear when he sees police officers; someone cannot sleep in constant anticipation of the next morning search; The children ask their parents if the soldiers will come to them again. (The latter applies equally to hundreds of believers and their families across the country.) Believers also had the opportunity to talk about the nature of their religious beliefs with a Bible in their hands.

Natalia Fedina, the wife of one of the accused, expressed a general idea: "A paradoxical situation: on the one hand, my husband was put in a pre-trial detention center, a criminal case was opened against 19 people, but there is not a single victim; On the other hand, there are 7 people who were tortured here, and there is not a single criminal case!"

After the meeting, Mikhail Fedotov said: "My conclusion: we must get to the bottom of the truth. I am far from agreeing in advance with any side of this story, but what is clear is that torture is absolutely unacceptable, and allegations of torture must be verified as fully, comprehensively and exhaustively as possible. We cannot allow such evil to exist in our land. The President has a very negative attitude towards the facts of torture. We remember his words that this is an absolutely unacceptable practice."