Advocate for Jehovah's Witnesses in Akhtubinsk complains of power agents' pressure

Advocate Gulfira Zakaryaeva, who is defending the interests of Elena Grigorieva, a member of the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Akhtubinsk (Astrakhan Region), accused of enmity incitement, is pressed by power agents. This was reported by Grigory Martynov, head of the press office of the Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 8, five homes of Jehovah's Witnesses living in Akhtubinsk were searched by operative agents under the pretext of inciting hatred and enmity. On the following day a criminal case was initiated against one of the believers - Elena Grigorieva, 43, - under Article 282, Part 1, of the Criminal Code (incitement to hatred or hostility, and humiliation of human dignity).

According to the investigation, in January-September 2010 she disseminated printed media among citizens, "aimed at humiliating a group of people on the grounds of religion," the "Interfax" quotes its source from law enforcement bodies.

According to Ms Grigorieva, in the course of the six-hour-long search her rights and those of the people living with her were broken; the agents confiscated her religious books, a personal computer, DVDs and private letters.

On February 11, Grigorieva was forced to resign from the department of social care where she had worked. According to believers, the department bosses were pressed on by the law enforcers who conducted the search. The department officials refuse to comment the information.

The Astrakhan lawyer Gulfira Zakaryaeva, who defends Grigorieva, has reported that she was also pressed on to refuse to participate in this case.

"Several of my relatives work for the Bar. FSB officers contacted them through certain people, whom I wouldn't like to name for the personal safety, and asked them to inform me that it would be better for me to quit the case as an advocate, or even to resign from the Bar altogether to avoid any problems," the statement of the Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia quotes Ms Zakaryaeva as saying.

It is worth noting that searches, like those conducted Akhtubinsk, were also undertaken on February 8 in the city of Chita.

As of today, it is known about 14 criminal cases initiated under Article 282, Part 1, of the Criminal Code, initiated against the Jehovah's Witnesses in different Russian cities.

On February 11, 2011, Lev Levinson, an expert of the Human Rights Institute, made a statement to human rights defenders in the context of searches of and criminal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses. According to his version, harassment of Jehovah's Witnesses is the today's main human rights problem in Russia, the web portal "Credo.ru" writes.