Another criminal case for faith opened in the Bryansk region

On October 16, 2019, in the city of Novozybkov (Bryansk Region), a new criminal case was opened against 42-year-old believer Vladimir Khokhlov on suspicion of belonging to Jehovah's Witnesses. The investigation is being conducted by the Novozybkovsky Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Bryansk Region.

According to the case file, Khokhlov is accused of organizing the activities of an extremist organization, as well as financing it (respectively, Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The case is being investigated by Senior Lieutenant of Justice I. Postevoy. The decision to initiate a criminal case against Khokhlov can be appealed.

This is the second criminal case that has been initiated against peaceful believers in Novozybkov. Earlier, as a result of mass searches in the Bryansk region , they stopped communicating and later arrested 31-year-old Olga Silaeva and 42-year-old Tatyana Shamsheva. They have been languishing in the Bryansk pre-trial detention center for more than 4 months.

Reading the Bible and peaceful meetings of believers continue to be misinterpreted by law enforcement agencies as participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Because of this loose interpretation of the "extremist" articles of the Criminal Code, the number of people persecuted only for their adherence to their religious views is steadily growing.