Lipetsk Region Becomes 49th Region of Russia Where Believers Are Persecuted: Three Men Detained, Woman Injured

On December 2, 2019, at least 7 searches were carried out in Lipetsk. Breaking into one of the dwellings, the FSB officers knocked down the owner of the apartment. At the same time, she hit her head hard. As a result of a wave of searches, 41-year-old Artur Netreba, 57-year-old Viktor Bachurin and 58-year-old Alexander Kostrov were detained, the question of the measure of restraint for them will be decided by the court.

At about 7:30 p.m., a group of FSB officers broke into the apartment of Sergei Antonov, who was receiving guests, knocked down the owner of the house, so that she received a head injury and had to call for emergency help. Although the search warrant referred to only three suspects, the men present in the apartment were handcuffed and forced to lie on the floor.

The search lasted 4 hours. The security forces searched the personal belongings and cars of believers, and also asked if they could confirm each other's identities. On the same evening, searches were carried out at at least 6 more addresses. Money, equipment, books were seized from the closet.

Closer to midnight, 8 people were taken for interrogation to the FSB department. Netreba, Bachurin and Kostrov were detained, the rest were released 5 hours later, having issued summonses for re-interrogation on December 5. Believers reported pressure from investigators when trying to use Article 51 of the Constitution.

This is the first case of Jehovah's Witnesses being persecuted for their faith in the Lipetsk region, but it only adds to the map of persecution of believers in modern Russia, which already covers most regions of the country. At the same time, the courts considering criminal cases against believers began to return them to the prosecutor's office because of vague wording and obvious falsifications.