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Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

New searches of believers in the Khabarovsk Territory. After 2 days behind bars, a 49-year-old Jehovah's Witness was placed under house arrest

Khabarovsk Territory

On June 5, 2021, searches were carried out in the working village of Solnechny (Khabarovsk Territory). A criminal case has been initiated. Boris Yagovitov, 49, was detained and placed in a temporary detention facility. On June 7, Pavel Nesterov, a judge of the Solnechny District Court of the Khabarovsk Territory, chose a measure of restraint for him in the form of house arrest until August 4, 2021.

A car drove up to Boris and his wife Natalia during a walk in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, from which two got out and invited the couple to get into the car. When Boris asked about the reason for the detention, he received the answer: "This is due to your activities." Then the believers were taken to their place of residence in the village of Solnechny, which is 40 kilometers from Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

Late in the evening, at about 10 p.m., their apartment was searched, and then the spouses were interrogated. Boris was placed in a temporary detention facility, and Natalia was released home at 2:30 a.m. The search and interrogation were conducted by the investigator for especially important cases Alexander Meshalkin.

At 9:30 p.m. on the same day, security forces from Amursk and Khabarovsk came to another local believer. During the search, they seized electronic devices and personal records of her late husband. Then the woman was taken for interrogation to the investigative department for the Khabarovsk Territory and the city of Amursk in the village of Solnechny, where she was interrogated. The believer was taken home at 4:30 in the morning.

Boris Yagovitov became the 19th Jehovah's Witness persecuted for his faith in the Khabarovsk Territory. Another resident of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Nikolay Aliyev, was recently given a 4.5-year suspended sentence for reading the Bible.

The case of Yagovitov in the village of Solnechnoye

Case History
In June 2021, security forces detained Boris Yagovitov and his wife while walking in a park in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. It turned out that the investigative authorities opened a criminal case against the believer because he is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. His house in the village of Solnechny was searched, after which Yagovitov was interrogated, kept in detention for 2 days, and then placed under house arrest. The key evidence of his guilt is the testimony of the informant Baleichuk, who kept hidden records of meetings for worship and conversations about the Bible. In December 2021, the Yagovitov case went to court. At the first hearing, Judge Pavel Nesterov sent the believer to a pretrial detention center. In February 2022, the case was returned to the prosecutor’s office to remove violations. Four months later, the case was retried. The prosecutor asked that the believer be sentenced to 5 years in a penal colony. In October 2022, the court gave Yagovitov a 5 year suspended sentence with a probationary period of 3 years and restriction of freedom for 1 year and 7 months. The appeal upheld this verdict.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Khabarovsk Territory
Locality:
Solnechny
Suspected of:
According to the investigation, "deliberate, in compliance with conspiracy measures, the involvement of new members in the composition ... extremist organization, as well as participation in ongoing events - a meeting of its members, which is a rite associated with the religious doctrine of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses."
Court case number:
12102080007000026
Initiated:
May 14, 2021
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (1.1), 282.2 (2)
Court case number:
1-99/2022 (1-98/2022; 1-23/2022; 1-248/2021)
Court of First Instance:
Солнечный районный суд Хабаровского края
Judge of the Court of First Instance:
Алёна Столярова
Case History
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