Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

A Taganrog home of one of Jehovah's Witnesses, who previously served more than five years of probation for practicing his faith, was searched again

Rostov Region

On March 20, 2021, the police searched the home of 58-year-old Taganrog-based Aleksandr Skvortsov, having previously placed his home under audio surveillance. Approximately ten years ago, the security forces already invaded the home of this peaceful believer. At that time, he endured exhausting court hearings and served a suspended sentence.

On Friday, March 19, Alexander and his wife were lured out of the house on a far-fetched reason: they were called by the traffic police and asked to come to check the information about their car. The Skvortsovs spent about two hours in the inspection. Later that day, Aleksandr discovered special tracking devices in his kitchen at home.

A tracking device found in the Skvortsovs’ house. Taganrog. 19 March 2021
A tracking device found in the Skvortsovs' house. Taganrog. 19 March 2021

The next day, police officers came to the spouses, accompanied by technical specialists and witnesses - a total of 10 people. They announced a search and began looking for a listening device that they had installed earlier. Law enforcement officers carefully searched the house, basement and outbuildings in the yard for 3 hours, but did not find anything. Electronic devices and personal records were seized from Aleksandr. He was not provided with copies of the order and the protocol of the search. Due to the stress, the believer's wife required urgent medical attention.

Update. On March 26, police conducted searches in the homes of Aleksandr Skvortsov’s two married daughters, who live separately. In both houses, nothing was found and seized. According to the operatives themselves who conducted the search, the real reason for this was their desire to find the surveillance device previously discovered by Skvortsov.

This is not the first time a civilian in a southern port city has faced criminal prosecution. In August 2011, his house was searched as part of a criminal case initiated under an “extremist” article against 16 Taganrog residents for not stopping to gather for religious meetings. In the spring of 2016, all believers were found guilty. Aleksandr was sentenced to 5.5 years of probation. Aleksandr Skvortsov served his term in full.

“The faith of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is not prohibited by law. The authorities have repeatedly stressed this. But it is enough to substitute concepts - simply call a peaceful religious meeting the activity of a banned organization - and any believer can be “pulled a fast” as many times as you like through criminal cases with the same charges. In fact, a repressive conveyor belt is being formed in Russia. But as the history of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Soviet Union shows, repression cannot change convictions, ”Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses, comments on the situation.

The Case of Skvortsov and Others in Taganrog

Case History
Aleksandr Skvortsov is one of those convicted in the high-profile “Case of 16”. Shortly after the believer had served his sentence in full, the security forces searched his house. Six months later, in December 2021, searches were carried out at the homes of 30 residents of Taganrog. Aleksandr was taken for interrogation and detained. In March 2022, Valeriy Tibiy also became a defendant in the criminal case. He was sent to jail despite being seriously ill. The third defendant in the case, Vladimir Moiseyenko, ended up in pre-trial detention in July of the same year. Investigators accused all three of organizing the activity of an extremist organization. The case went to court in November 2022. During the hearings, it turned out that the FSB had been monitoring them since 2016, and an undercover agent recorded his conversations about the Bible with the believers. In June 2023, Skvortsov and Moiseyenko were sentenced to 7 and 6 years in a penal colony, respectively, and Tibiy was given a 6-year suspended sentence. The court of appeal, and later the court of cassation, upheld this decision.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Rostov Region
Locality:
Taganrog
Suspected of:
"organized the activities of the religious organization of the LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses "Taganrog", recognized as extremist and liquidated" back in 2009.
Court case number:
12102600017000087
Initiated:
December 7, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate for the city of Taganrog of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Rostov Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-43/2023 (1-829/2022)
Court of First Instance:
Таганрогский городской суд Ростовской области
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Георгий Серебряников
Case History
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