Four people detained in Crimea for promoting banned Jehovah's Witnesses organization

SIMFEROPOL, May 12. /TASS/. Four residents of Crimea’s Dzhankoy District were detained for allegedly supporting the banned religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses by recruiting members and collecting donations, the press office of the Main Investigative Directorate for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol reported. "Criminal proceedings have been initiated against four Dzhankoy District residents suspected of organizing activities for a court-banned religious organization involved in extremism. The suspects have been detained," the statement reads. The suspects' actions are classified under part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an extremist organization), carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. The investigation revealed that the detainees were leaders of the local Jehovah's Witnesses cell and maintained its operations, despite the Russian Supreme Court's 2017 decision to liquidate the organization and its regional branches due to extremist activities. "The Dzhankoy Investigative Department found that the men held video meetings, promoted a banned religious group's ideology, studied extremist materials, recruited supporters, and collected and distributed donations for the organization. Searches of their homes uncovered extremist literature. Investigators are identifying other involved individuals," the press office said. The cell's activities were uncovered and stopped by personnel from the Russian Federal Security Service's Crimea and Sevastopol branch and specialists from the Crimea Interior Ministry's Extremism Countering Center, it was additionally noted.