CrimeaSOS: at least 15 searches in the houses of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” in Crimea were carried out since the beginning of 2024
22 / 10 / 2024Currently, it is known about at least 15 searches in the homes of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” carried out by the occupying special services on the territory of the peninsula since the beginning of this year. This was reported by CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko.
In particular, as a result of another illegal search, a criminal case was opened against 68-year-old Tamara Brattseva in August, and against 53-year-old Vitalii Buryk in October. The woman was released on recognizance, and the man was sent under house arrest, accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization.
Yevhenii Yaroshenko says that as of mid-October 2024, “courts” in Crimea have sentenced 13 “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, 11 of whom received prison terms of 6 to 6.5 years. The most severe punishment was given to Viktor Stashevskyi who was transferred from the colony to the Vladimir Central prison this year due to regular disciplinary sanctions.
“The “Supreme Court” of Crimea cancelled guilty verdicts issued by the “Yalta City Court” in 2023 in respect of 4 representatives of the above-mentioned cell and sent them for retrial”, – the analyst emphasized.
We previously reported that in 2022, russian security forces conducted about 50 searches of “Jehovah’s Witnesses”, and at least 10 in 2023.
According to Jehovah’s Witnesses, 31 believers were criminally prosecuted in the occupied Crimea. This figure also includes those “Jehovah’s Witnesses” who are free but had to leave the territory of Crimea due to criminal prosecution.
We would like to 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.