Raid on Jehovah's Witnesses in St. Petersburg. The Security Forces Searched for Everything With the Words "God", "Jesus" and "Faith"

On the evening of April 4, 2023, nine Jehovah's Witnesses in St. Petersburg were subjected to searches, six of them, men and women aged 40 to 68, were interrogated by the Investigative Committee throughout the night.

Around 8 p.m., groups of OMON officers broke into the apartments of believers at several addresses in the south of the city. At that time, the hosts had guests. In one of the apartments, armed law enforcement officers in balaclavas broke down the door and shouted “everyone on the floor”.

According to eyewitnesses, some searches were accompanied by caustic comments and obscene language from law enforcement officers. They were interested in items with the words "God", "Jesus", "faith" and "Holy Scriptures". Books, notebooks and notepads with personal notes, hard drives, electronic devices, and in one case, Bibles of various editions and a video cassette with a wedding recording were confiscated from believers. At about 1 a.m., the hosts and guests were taken for interrogation. They returned home only at 4 a.m.

In another apartment, where an elderly couple lives (the husband is a blind man, 82), law enforcement officers tried to behave respectfully. The security forces took one of the guests to his home to conduct a search there as well.

In February 2023, law enforcement agencies of the Leningrad Region initiated a case against believers from Kingisepp and Slantsy. During the interrogations, the investigators were interested in whether believers from St. Petersburg knew their fellow believers from Kingisepp.

St. Petersburg has become the 74th region in which Russian law enforcement officers persecute Jehovah's Witnesses for their peaceful religious practice.