CrimeaSOS: the occupiers are persecuting at least 24 representatives of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” in Crimea
18 / 08 / 2023
At least 24 members of the “Jehovah’s Witnesses” religious organization are being persecuted in the temporarily occupied Crimea. This was reported by CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko.
“As of August 18, 2023, at least 24 “Jehovah’s Witnesses” are being persecuted in occupied Crimea. 14 of them received guilty verdicts ranging from conditional imprisonment to 6.5 years of actual imprisonment”, — the analyst says.
Today it became known that on August 14 and 16 members of the “Jehovah’s Witnesses” religious organization were searched in four Crimean cities: Armiansk, Simferopol, Saky and Dzhankoi. In Simferopol, law enforcement officers searched the home of local resident Kateryna Melnychuk. She was interrogated, informed about the opening of a criminal case and released on recognizance. Dmytro Zakharevych, a resident of Simferopol, was also searched. The man received a resolution on indictment in a criminal case, he was put under house arrest.
We shall remind you that in 2017 the supreme court of russia recognized the religious organization “Jehovah’s Witnesses” as extremist and banned its activities in the russian federation and in the occupied Crimea. The activities of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” are allowed in the absolute majority of countries in the world.
According to Yevhenii Yaroshenko, approximately every eighth victim of politically motivated persecution in Crimea is a “Jehovah’s Witness”.