n occupied Crimea, 33 people have been subjected to illegal persecution in the “Jehovah’s Witnesses case” — CTRC

Since the occupation of Crimea, the Russian Federation has been actively pursuing a policy of religious persecution. This is particularly targeted at individuals associated with the organizations Hizb ut-Tahrir and Jehovah’s Witnesses, which are banned in Russia.

According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, 33 individuals involved in the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization are currently being illegally persecuted in the occupied Crimea.

Nineteen people are subjected to restrictions:

Tamara Bratseva
Burik Vitaly
Voronchikhin Alexander
Demidoma Ekaterina
Efanov Ivan
Zhiltsov Peter
Zakharevich Dmitry
Zinchenko Maksim
Kopylets Alexander
Kostenko Alexander
Kuzio Daria
Kuzio Taras
Lyulin Sergey
Lyakh Mark
Mamedov Saleh
Manukyan Tadevos
Manya Viktor
Chertov Vladimir
Shabliy Artem

In colonies there are 14 people:

Gerasimov Artem
Gerashchenko Yuri
Dubovenko Alexander
Zhigalov Sergey
Zhukov Evgeny
Kudinov Viktor
Litvinyuk Alexander
Maladyka Vladimir
Parfenovich Sergey
Sakada Vladimir
Stashevsky Viktor
Ursu Victor
Filatov Sergey
Schmidt Igor
It should be recalled that in April 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized the “Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” as an extremist organization, after which it banned the activities of all its cells on the territory of the Russian Federation and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

At the same time, in 2022, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia’s ban on the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization and its persecution of its believers was illegal. The court ordered Russia to drop ongoing criminal cases and release prisoners. In addition, Russia must return confiscated property or pay compensation in excess of €59.6 million.

Despite the ECHR ruling, the illegal persecution of those involved in the Jehovah’s Witnesses case in occupied Crimea continues, confirming the systematic nature of the Russian occupation authorities’ repression of religious communities.