Two More Jehovah's Witnesses Arrested in Bryansk Region

On October 24, 2019, in Novozybkov (Bryansk Region), a court sent two local Jehovah's Witnesses, 42-year-old Vladimir Khokhlov and 47-year-old Eduard Zhinzhikov, to the pre-trial detention center until December 3. They were detained the day before after searches in their homes. 2 women from Novozybkov are already in jail for their faith.

As of October 28, 2019, there are 44 Jehovah's Witnesses, including 7 women, in various prisons in Russia.

Olga Silaeva and Tatyana Shamsheva from Novozybsk were arrested during mass searches conducted in the Bryansk region on June 11, 2019, in the homes of local Jehovah's Witnesses and their relatives. Then, in total, in the city of Unecha, the city of Novozybkov, in the village. Klimovo and the village of Dobrik underwent 22 searches. Searches were carried out in families with small children, as well as in the home of an 83-year-old woman.

Many local believers report that they are being followed.

A huge number of Russian and international figures and organizations unanimously condemn the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. These include the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, the President of the Russian Federation, prominent public figures of Russia, the European Union External Action Service, observers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Russian government has repeatedly stated that the decisions of the Russian courts on the liquidation and prohibition of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses "do not assess the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, do not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually."

Vladimir Khokhlov and Eduard Zhinzhikov are in Detention Center No. 2 of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Bryansk Region at the address: 9 Red Square Street, Novozybkov, Bryansk Region, 243000.

Update. On November 18, 2019, it became known that Vladimir Khokhlov and Eduard Zhinzhikov were transferred to Detention Center No. 1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Bryansk Region at the address: 2 Sovetskaya Street, Bryansk, 241050