Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

New Wave of Searches in Tomsk. Two Foreign Citizens Among Those Detained

Tomsk Region

On May 30, 2025, a series of searches and detentions took place in Tomsk: law enforcement officers went to at least four addresses. Anton Novopashin, a citizen of Kazakhstan, Djachi Gonhi, a student from Côte d'Ivoire, Andrey Plekhanov, as well as Yuriy Pichugin, who recently suffered a stroke, ended up in a pretrial detention center.

The searches began around 6 am. Law enforcement officers seized electronic devices, personal notes, bank cards, cash and Bibles. Then the believers were taken for interrogation to the Investigative Committee. Among them were three women who were later released. The next day, Mariya Tynyanaya, judge of the Kirovskiy District Court of the city of Tomsk, sent the four men into custody to detention center No.1 in the Tomsk Region.

On May 29, Captain of Justice Vyacheslav Lebedev, investigator for especially important cases of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region, initiated criminal cases under Article 282.2(2) of the RF CrC. On the same day, he combined them with the case of Pushkov and others. The believers are charged with holding conversations and participating in events with the aim of "involving citizens in the religious movement" of Jehovah's Witnesses. The case contains the testimony of a secret witness who was present at some meetings for worship.

The Case of Pushkov and Others in Tomsk

Case History
After searches in Tomsk in March 2025, three married couples of Jehovah’s Witnesses were detained. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case for organizing the activities of an extremist organization and participating in these activities. The next day, the court sent Vladimir Pushkov, Aisula Tastaibekova, Yevgeniy Abramov and his wife Yana, Yevgeniy Dodolin and his wife Tatyana to a pre-trial detention center. In May, after another series of searches, Anton Novopashin, Yuriy Pichugin, Andrey Plekhanov and Gonhi Jahi, a student from Côte d’Ivoire, ended up in the pre-trial detention center.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Tomsk Region
Locality:
Tomsk
Suspected of:
"held conversations in order to promote the activity and directly participated in the events held repeatedly... by the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses" (from the decision to initiate a criminal case)
Court case number:
12502690015000010
Initiated:
March 20, 2025
Current case stage:
preliminary investigation
Investigating:
Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Tomsk Region
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)
Case History
Back to top