The Court in Moscow Kept Yuriy Temirbulatov in Custody, Despite the Personal Guarantee of Human Rights Activist Andrey Babushkin

On November 8, 2021, the Savyolovsky District Court of Moscow extended the detention of Yury Temirbulatov, one of Jehovah's Witnesses, in the pre-trial detention facility for another three months. While in custody, he underwent surgery. Andrei Babushkin from the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation personally asked the court to commute his preventive measure.

The believer has been in detention for nine months, despite the fact that he suffers from numerous chronic diseases. In addition, he was diagnosed with cancer in the pre-trial detention center. In October, he underwent major surgery to remove the tumor. After being discharged from the hospital, he was transferred back to the “Matrosskaya Tishina” detention centre.

The chairman of the "Committee for Civil Rights" Andrei Babushkin, in his statement on personal guarantee, drew attention to the fact that Yuri has a dependent mother-in-law - a disabled person of group II. He also noted that Temirbulatov "is characterized positively at the place of residence, work and place of detention."

Temirbulatov was sent to jail in connection with a criminal case brought against him in February 2021. Investigator Mariya Rasskazova mistakenly interprets reading the Bible and singing religious songs as organizing the activities of an extremist organization.

Yuriy Temirbulatov became one of the victims of the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the capital, which has not subsided for the second year already. Thus, in 2020, 5 men professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses were detained in Moscow. Believers are still under house arrest. In 2021, 8 more people living in Moscow, including Temirbulatov, became defendants in criminal cases for believing in God.