Three criminal cases against 21 Jehovah's Witnesses investigated in Taganrog

The Chief Department of the Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) for the Southern Federal District (SFD) is investigating two more criminal cases against five Jehovah's Witnesses in Taganrog, suspected of extremism, the lawyer Anton Bogdanov, who is representing two of the believers, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. The above Chief Department has confirmed this information.

Let us remind you that on May 30, Taganrog started the criminal proceedings against 16 Jehovah's Witnesses, accused of establishing and participation in the activities of an extremist organization (Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code). In particular, according to the investigation, in Taganrog, the believers continued activities of the religious community, which was banned by the court in 2009, and studied the literature from the list of extremist materials.

The defendants plead not guilty. Their defence indicates the inconsistency of the allegations and claims the absence of evidence. The decisions of Russian courts to ban the community in the Rostov Region were appealed against to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in June 2010.

Meanwhile, as the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent managed to learn, in the Rostov Region two more criminal cases, similar to the case of 16 Jehovah's Witnesses, are investigated.

The Chief Department of the MIA for the SFD has confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that, apart from the case of 16 Jehovah's Witnesses, already sent to the court, there are two more cases; however, the source found it difficult to give details.