Photo: Valery Rogozin, Sergey Melnik, Igor Egozaryan
All four prisoners of conscience were released from pre-trial detention center in Volgograd
Volgograd RegionOn December 26, 2019, the Volgograd Regional Court released Igor Yegozaryan, Valery Rogozin and Sergey Melnik from the pre-trial detention center. A day later, a similar decision was made on Vyacheslav Osipov. Their detention has been replaced by a ban on certain actions.
Four civilians in Volgograd were imprisoned on May 16, 2019, after a raid and mass arrests for their faith. All of them are charged under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation in the activities of an extremist organization) just because they have not stopped practicing their religion.
Relatives of believers are happy to be reunited with their loved ones, but the criminal case against them continues to be investigated.