Andrzej Oniszczuk was released after 11 months in jail. There are no more Jehovah's Witnesses behind bars in Kirov

On September 3, 2019, the judge of the Kirov Regional Court, Alexander Moseev, granted the appeal of Andrzej Oniszczuk to extend his detention. After almost a year behind bars and a ban on communicating with his wife, the believer is finally free, but on his own recognizance.

Polish citizen Andrzej Oniszczuk was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in the Kirov region as a result of mass searches in the homes of believers on October 9, 2018. Then five Kirov residents were arrested, whom the investigation accused of "singing biblical songs together, improving the skills of missionary activity, studying religious literature, the so-called "Holy Scripture" (Bible)."

Later, the court softened the measure of restraint for everyone except Oniszczuk, while Andrzej continued to remain under arrest. During the 11 months of his stay in the pre-trial detention center, he was forbidden to communicate with his wife Anna, even by phone, under the pretext that she was a witness in the case.

Meanwhile, the investigation of the case against Andrzej Oniszczuk continues, for believing in God and reading the Bible with friends, he faces up to 10 years in prison under "extremist" articles 282.2 (1) and 283.2 (1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. At the moment, 10 residents of the Kirov region are under investigation in connection with the practice of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Kirov law enforcement officers continue to interpret ordinary, peaceful religion as a serious crime.