Russian Deputy Prosecutor General orders investigators to eliminate violations in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog

The criminal case against 16 Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog (Rostov Region), accused of extremism, was not fully investigated; the inquiry has been extended, says the answer of the Russian General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to the appeal of Russian human rights activists, which was received today by the editorial board of the "Caucasian Knot".

The criminal case involves 17 Jehovah's Witnesses: 16 of them have been indicted; one more woman-believer has the status of a suspect. The investigation believes that the defendants, while deliberately ignoring the prohibition and liquidation of the religious community of Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog, prescribed by the Rostov Regional Court in September 2009, "acting out of extremist motives", continued gathering to study the literature, included into the list of extremist materials, while four elders of the community kept organizing, from April to August 2011, religious meetings.

The "Case of 17" caused outrage in Russian human rights circles; and in October 2012 a number of leading Russian human rights defenders sent an open letter to the Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, which noted that in the persons of the 17 Jehovah's Witnesses they try all the followers of this faith in Russia.

In response to this appeal, Mr Chaika's deputy Vorobyov instructed the investigator, who had announced the completion of the investigation on December 4, to eliminate the violations. The inquiry was extended till February 5, 2013.