A 76-year-old resident of Khabarovsk Krai was accused of extremism

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the 76-year-old Jehovah’s Witness Lilia Dolinina from the Khabarovsk Krai on the involvement of people in the activities of an extremist organization. Her home in Dormydontovka village was searched, the organization “Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” reported.

Early in the morning of February 13, they came to search the pensioner and another elderly follower of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Electronic devices, data carriers and records were seized from them. During interrogations, believers were asked to find out who else professes their religion.

• In June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the decisions of the Russian authorities to liquidate the Church of Jehovah’s Witnesses, ban its activities, and seize property violated the rights of believers. The court demanded that Russia take all the necessary measures so that the criminal prosecution of the witnesses was stopped, and those previously convicted for participating in the church’s activities were released. The decision of the ECtHR was made after the expulsion of Russia from the Council of Europe, Moscow is not going to implement it.
• In 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia recognized the “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” as an extremist organization and banned its activities on the territory of the country. Subsequently, all legal entities of the organization were included in the list of extremist and prohibited. According to human rights activists, this was done without any evidence that the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses threaten citizens and the security of the Russian state.
• An hour later, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the recognition of Jehovah’s Witnesses extremists “nonsense.” He declared that they are “also Christians” and there is no reason to persecute them. Nevertheless, hundreds of criminal cases were initiated against the followers of the church.