The case of Samoilova and Others in Rybinsk

Case History

On July 13, 2022, Rybinsk security forces searched 16 houses of city residents. Two days earlier, the investigator of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Yaroslavl Region, D. Kovalenko, opened a criminal case against 66-year-old Evgenia Samoilova and 45-year-old Olga Golovacheva on suspicion of participating in extremist activities. This is how the investigation interprets the participation of women in peaceful worship services via the Internet.
Timeline

  • #
    July 11, 2022

    D. S. Kovalenko, an investigator of the Rybinsk Interdistrict Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Yaroslavl Region, initiates a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code against Evgenia Samoilova and Olga Golovacheva.

    On the same day, the investigator draws up a petition to search the house of another local believer, who is also suspected of participating in extremist activities.

  • #
    July 13, 2022

    In the morning in Rybinsk, with the participation of officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Guard and the FSB, searches are carried out at 16 addresses where Jehovah's Witnesses live. Several believers are taken to the building of the local lyceum for interrogation.