In the Chelyabinsk Region, Security Forces Searched the Home of a Family of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Early in the morning on June 16, 2022, Andrey Bolotov, 38, was detained on the street of Kopeysk and taken to his home for a search.

At the door of Bolotov's apartment, 8 more people were met, three of whom were armed. Law enforcement officers seized a laptop, CDs, flash drives, smartphones. After the search, Andrey Bolotov and his wife were taken to the building of the Investigative Committee for the Chelyabinsk Region for interrogation, and then released, with an obligation to appear.

The event was led by investigator Aleksandr Chepenko, who had previously initiated criminal prosecution of other believers in the region. On June 8, 2022, he opened another criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of the activities of an extremist organization), under which the Bolotovs were searched.

This is the tenth criminal case against believers in the Chelyabinsk region.