Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Illustrative photo

Actions of Law Enforcement Officers

In Kursk at the end of October, 7 searches took place. Earlier, three believers ended up in the pre-trial detention center

Kursk Region

On October 24 and 31, 2019, in Kursk, law enforcement officers invaded a total of seven houses of believers with searches. In three cases, the victims were older women, and in one case, the search was carried out in front of a young child.

On October 31, law enforcement officers raided the homes of three women, and Inna Belousova was taken from her workplace, and Irina Shchepelina did not have time to get to work. During the search, Galina Shapareva's house was her son, a hearing impaired, whose smartphone was broken by the security forces. The same thing happened at Inna Belousova's house - her son tried to record what was happening, which is why the security forces broke his camera. Galina Shapareva, who suffers from hypertension, was kept all day without food. All three women experienced severe stress.

During the searches, law enforcement officers seized personal notes, Bibles in various translations and equipment. In two out of three cases, law enforcement officers explicitly stated that they were only interested in electronic devices and printed publications. Criminal prosecution of believers is handled by the investigative department of the FSB Directorate for the Kursk region.

Mass searches of residents of Kursk have been frequent since October 16, when the spouses Bagratyan and Andrei Andreev were arrested .

Case of Andreyev and Others in Kursk

Case History
In October 2019, the FSB initiated a criminal case against Andrey Andreyev, Artem Bagratyan and his wife Alevtina. Andreyev was accused of organizing the activity of an extremist organization, while the others were accused of participating in it. They were placed in a detention center. Later, another believer, Andrey Ryshkov, was arrested. At the end of 2020, Alevtina Bagratyan was transferred to house arrest. Artem Bagratyan suffers from diabetes and other chronic diseases; his condition required inpatient treatment, which he was denied by the management of the detention center. In June 2021, the court sentenced: Andrey Andreyev to 4.5 years in a penal colony, Andrey Ryshkov - 3 years in a penal colony, Artem Bagratyan - 2.5 years in a penal colony and his wife, Alevtina - 2 years in a penal colony. Aleksandr Vospitanyuk was given a 2-year suspended sentence. In January 2022, the court of appeal, and a year later, the court of cassation, upheld this decision. All of the believers have already served their terms.
Timeline

Persons in case

Criminal case

Region:
Kursk Region
Locality:
Kursk
Court case number:
11907380001000031
Initiated:
September 12, 2019
Current case stage:
the verdict entered into force
Investigating:
УФСБ России по Курской области
Articles of Criminal Code of Russian Federation:
282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)
Court case number:
1-12/2021 (1-410/2020)
Court:
Промышленный районный суд г. Курска
Judge:
Оксана Иванова
Case History
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