Searches in Georgievsk Lead to Criminal Prosecution of Three Believers Including the Father of Two Children

January 16, 2020 Stavropol Territory

Three believing residents of Georgievsk (Stavropol Territory) became the object of close attention of law enforcement officers - a married couple was accused of extremism. Also, the defendant in the criminal case was the father of two minor children who underwent heart surgery.

As it became known on January 11, 2020, a criminal case was opened on charges of organizing and participating in extremist activities in the context of searches in Georgievsk that took place on October 23, 2019.

Special services raided three addresses, in each case the owners planted flash drives. Then 11 people were detained, they were interrogated until late at night, after which they were released.

One of the searches took place in the house of Viktor Zimovskiy. Some time ago, he underwent severe heart surgery. Victor became ill right during the special events. Nevertheless, he was also taken to the police station and interrogated along with everyone else.

According to the Investigative Committee, Victor convened and held meetings of fellow believers in the household provided by the couple. Believers discussed with those who came "religious intolerance towards representatives of other faiths," as follows from the message on the website of the Investigative Committee for Stavropol. This is what the security forces call peaceful prayers and joint discussions of the principles of Christian life. A criminal case was opened against all three under Part 1 of Article 282.2 and Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of Russia.

The repression may affect not only Viktor's health, but also his family. Viktor has two small children of preschool and primary school age, his wife is pregnant with her third child.

Believers have repeatedly told how religious persecution hits families. In addition, there have been cases when the stress associated with the actions of the security forces led to the failure of pregnancy. This happened in the Lungu family of Dzhankoy.

Update. On January 23, 2020, investigator A. M. Ostya summoned Viktor Zimovskiy for questioning and immediately detained him, sending him to the temporary detention facility. The next day, the Georgievsk City Court arrested Viktor for 1 month and 6 days. It is not yet known in which pre-trial detention center the believer will await trial.