Photo: residents of Zelenogorsk came to court for a hearing on the election of a preventive measure for Aleksandr Kabanov
Photo: residents of Zelenogorsk came to court for a hearing on the election of a preventive measure for Aleksandr Kabanov
In the closed city of Zelenogorsk, the believer spent a day in an isolation ward. The security forces asked to send him to a pre-trial detention center, but the court refused
Krasnoyarsk TerritoryOn December 26, 2019, a series of searches of Jehovah's Witnesses' homes took place in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. At least 8 people, including minors, were taken for questioning. 59-year-old Aleksandr Kabanov spent a day behind bars. On December 27, however, the court refused to send him to jail.
Update. It became known that the minors were not taken away for interrogation, but were interrogated at the place of the search.
Despite the severe frost, about 40 anxious citizens came to the hearing on the election of a preventive measure for Alexander Kabanov. Almost none of them were allowed to attend the hearing and were even escorted out of the courthouse. For about 3 hours, the believer's friends waited for what the court would say, taking turns warming themselves in cars. All of them breathed a sigh of relief when they learned about the court's refusal to send Aleksandr Kabanov to the pre-trial detention center.
This is not the first time that law enforcement agencies in the Krasnoyarsk Territory have persecuted ordinary people and deprived them of their legal right to practice their religion. Compared to other regions, the Krasnoyarsk Territory is engaged in a very active struggle against the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses . The fight against the "undesirable" faith has been launched in six cities of the region at once - Krasnoyarsk, Norilsk, Minusinsk, Sharypov, Achinsk, and now in Zelenogorsk.
Currently, investigations are underway in this region against seven believers: Krasnoyarsk, Minusinsk, Sharypovo, Norilsk and Achinsk. Aleksandr Polozov from Norilsk was taken into custody in pre-trial detention center No. 4 in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Most recently, on the night of December 20, 2019, Anton Ostapenko from Sharypovo was released from pre-trial detention center No. 3 under house arrest, after 246 days behind bars. And the case of Andrey Stupnikov has been dragging on since July 3, 2018.
