New Searches in the Sverdlovsk Region. Criminal Proceedings Initiated Against Three Believer

On the morning of April 14, 2023, in the settlements of Lesnoy, Kachkanar and Tayozhny (Sverdlovsk Region), searches were carried out at 5 addresses of believers, including 58-year-old Andrey Bannykh. Earlier, a criminal case was initiated against him as well as Pavel Loshchinin and Andrey Kozhushko, for their faith.

Pavel Loshchinin in his appeal against the decision to initiate a criminal case stated: “The descriptive and motivating part of the resolution contains absolutely no specific argumentation, and there are clearly contradictory arguments... Following religious teaching and studying religious literature is not a crime in itself”.

Another suspect in the case, Andrey Bannykh, is one of the applicants whose appeal was granted by the ECHR, declaring the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia illegal. The Court held that “respondent State must take all necessary measures to secure the discontinuation of all pending criminal proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses” (§ 290).