Jehovah's Witnesses Civilians Detained for 55 Days in the Arctic

44-year-old Roman Markin and 61-year-old Viktor Trofimov, residents of Polyarny (Murmansk region), were sent to a pre-trial detention center for almost 2 months on suspicion of "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). They did not get in touch after the searches, which took place on April 18, 2018 in this city in 7 apartments belonging to citizens who are considered Jehovah's Witnesses.

The searches were carried out almost simultaneously, with the participation of armed riot police, who acted extremely rudely. In the evening, Roman Markin was at home with his 16-year-old daughter. At 7:40 p.m., the door to their apartment was kicked down by riot police. At gunpoint, they were forced to lie on the floor and searched. Markin's daughter was taken away and interrogated until 3 a.m. Elsewhere, an elderly man opened the door to a group of armed commandos, and they pushed him with such force that he fell. By their actions, law enforcement officers bruised two more women who were visiting. The teenagers, siblings, were put against the wall and ordered to hold their arms outstretched. A total of 17 citizens were searched, all electronic devices were seized and taken away for interrogation, which lasted until 7 am.

The criminal case was initiated on April 12, 2018 by the Investigative Department for ZATO Aleksandrovsk (which includes the cities of Polyarny and Snezhnogorsk) of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Murmansk Region. The believers were interrogated by several investigators, including Ivan Misa. The case was a direct consequence of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate and ban the activities of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Law enforcers often mistake the joint religion of citizens for participation in an extremist organization.

It is noteworthy that earlier, on October 23, 2016, brochures submitted to the FSEM were planted at the service of Jehovah's Witnesses in Snezhnogorsk. Law enforcement officers then drove up to the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses and, referring to a "message received," said that there might be weapons in the building. Weapons, as expected, were not found, but banned brochures were demonstratively "discovered". The epidemic of such falsifications led to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which became the reason for the arrests of believers.

Roman Nikolaevich Markin (born in 1974) and Viktor Fedorovich Trofimov (born in 1957) are in pre-trial detention center No. 1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Murmansk Region.