In Kursk, Two Men and One Woman Sent to a Pre-Trial Detention Center for Their Faith

In Kursk, after mass searches on October 16, 2019 and subsequent interrogations of believers , Andrey Andreyev, as well as spouses Artem and Alevtina Bagratyan, were arrested for 27 days. The believers were placed in custody until November 11, 2019 inclusive. Criminal cases against three citizens are combined into one, it is being investigated by the investigative department of the FSB in the Kursk region.

According to incomplete information, searches in Kursk took place at more than 10 addresses, and law enforcement officers invaded some local residents at 6 am. After the searches, many believers were taken away for interrogations, during which FSB officers intimidated them, threatening to open criminal cases against both themselves and their family members. For three believers, these threats became a reality.

As follows from the documents of the case, Andrey Andreev is accused of continuing the activities of a certain "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kursk" (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), and Artem and Alevtina Bagratyan are charged with participation in the activities of this organization (part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

It is noteworthy that, although the decisions on detention were made by different judges of the Leninsky District Court of Kursk (Judge Inessa Kvaskova sent Alevtina Bagratyan to the pre-trial detention center, and Judge Tatyana Pozdnyakova issued an arrest warrant for Artem Bagratyan and Andrey Andreev), the terms of imprisonment for all three are the same, which indicates the coordination of actions.

90 kilometers from Kursk in the city of Lgov (Kursk region), Dennis Christensen, a Danish citizen sentenced to 6 years just because he did not renounce his beliefs, is serving a sentence. Many Russian and international organizations, such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Human Rights Society Memorial, spoke out in support of Christensen.

Update. On October 24, 2019, 4 more searches of believers took place in Kursk - two of older women, and one in front of a young child. A laptop, phones, digital media were seized.