Religious Persecution Still Continues in Russia Despite International Condemnation

Kaluga, Russia. On June 26, 2019, in Kaluga, Russia, mass searches by masked law enforcement officers were carried out in the homes of two peaceful believers. Two of Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Makhnev and Dimitri Kuzin were detained, simply for their religion. The officers stormed into these men's houses, without any warrants and handcuffed them. Their families were treated badly during these raids. Another group from the same raided a home of an 87 years old Olga Verevkina. She describes them as a full SWAT team in camouflage with no warrant, raiding a home of an old sickly woman. They demanded that she stands up and she responded she can't since she's infirm.

According to these believers, books from the list that the Federal government has banned for being extremist material were planted in their homes, in order to justify why they were arrested. The search at Roman's house lasted from about 9 in the evening until 4 a.m the following morning. After the searches, the two men were taken into the FSB building, handcuffed for questioning. One of the men, Roman, was detained without food for three days. Their lawyer has filed complaints with relevant agencies for the inhumane treatment of an innocent man.

On June 28, the local District Court sent both men to a detention centre until this day. No formal charges were laid against them. No evidence of them being a threat to society have been proven, yet they languish in jail. We hope that International Human Rights organizations take note of this abuse and intervene. A call to the government of Russia to cease this treatment against Christian believers and protect their rights as citizens.