Case History
In March 2023, a criminal case was initiated against civilians in the city of Lesnoy, Pavel Loshchinin and Andrey Bannykh, as well as Andrey Kozhushko, a resident of the village of Tayozhny. The believers were accused of “organizing the study of extremist materials and other religious literature” because they discussed the Bible together. In April, officers of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation conducted searches at 6 addresses of Jehovah’s Witnesses as part of this case. Andrey Bannykh is one of the believers whose appeal was granted by the ECHR, declaring the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia illegal. In May 2024, the case went to court. There are secret witnesses in it.