Mass Searches of Witnesses Continued in the Stavropol Territory. Security Forces Seized Bibles

On December 18 and 19, 2019, law enforcement officers conducted a series of searches in the homes of 9 local families in the city of Neftekumsk and the village of Zaterechnoye, Stavropol Territory. Some were interrogated about fellow believers who had been released from pre-trial detention a few days earlier by the court.

The searches began on December 18 at about 9 a.m. and lasted about an hour and a half. Another search took place in Zaterechne on December 19.

As follows from the search protocols, the police, employees of the Investigative Committee and the Center for Countering Extremism were looking for "objects and documents confirming criminal activity related to the organization of the activities of an extremist organization."

However, the security forces found and seized several copies of the Bible, including in the Synodal translation and the translation of Archimandrite Macarius. Also, a laptop, tablet, mobile phone, and personal records were confiscated from believers. In one of the cases, law enforcement officers took a box with 800 rubles.

After the searches, six believers were taken to law enforcement offices and interrogated. Among other things, they asked about three residents of Neftekumsk, who had previously been imprisoned in a pre-trial detention center for their faith. They were released only a year later, but remain accused in the case of extremism.

The criminal case against believers from Neftekumsk is one example of unjustified persecution for their beliefs in Russia. Believers face degrading treatment and arrests for "not renouncing their religious views."