#CRIMEA: "Punished simply for conducting communal prayers"
After two Crimean Tatars attended Friday prayers and handed recordings to Russia's FSB security service, prosecutors brought a case against Emir Medzhitov under Russia's anti-missionary law. A court in Dzhankoi fined him three weeks' average local wages. Prosecutor's Office official Natalya Tishchenko – who led the case in court – put the phone down when asked why the Prosecutor's Office had opened the case at the instigation of Russia's FSB security service and why Medzhitov had been punished for exercising freedom of religion or belief.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2755
After two Crimean Tatars attended Friday prayers and handed recordings to Russia's FSB security service, prosecutors brought a case against Emir Medzhitov under Russia's anti-missionary law. A court in Dzhankoi fined him three weeks' average local wages. Prosecutor's Office official Natalya Tishchenko – who led the case in court – put the phone down when asked why the Prosecutor's Office had opened the case at the instigation of Russia's FSB security service and why Medzhitov had been punished for exercising freedom of religion or belief.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2755
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: "Punished simply for conducting communal prayers"
After two Crimean Tatars attended Friday prayers and handed recordings to Russia's FSB security service, prosecutors brought a case against Emir Medzhitov under Russia's anti-missionary law. A court in Dzhankoi fined him three weeks' average local wages.…
#CRIMEA: Catholic priest latest fined for failing to use full name
Yalta's Catholic priest, Fr Tomasz Wytrwal, was fined one month's average wage on 5 August for his parish's failure to use its full official name on material it had produced. Under a Russian Supreme Court decision, only organisations, not individuals, can be subject to such punishments. His is one of nine cases against religious communities so far in 2022. The warning to Simferopol's Orthodox Jewish community followed an inspection by the FSB security service's Service for the Defence of the Constitutional Order and the Struggle Against Terrorism.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2768
Yalta's Catholic priest, Fr Tomasz Wytrwal, was fined one month's average wage on 5 August for his parish's failure to use its full official name on material it had produced. Under a Russian Supreme Court decision, only organisations, not individuals, can be subject to such punishments. His is one of nine cases against religious communities so far in 2022. The warning to Simferopol's Orthodox Jewish community followed an inspection by the FSB security service's Service for the Defence of the Constitutional Order and the Struggle Against Terrorism.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2768
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: Catholic priest latest fined for failing to use full name
Yalta's Catholic priest, Fr Tomasz Wytrwal, was fined one month's average wage on 5 August for his parish's failure to use its full official name on material it had produced. Under a Russian Supreme Court decision, only organisations, not individuals, can…
#CRIMEA: Religious freedom survey, September 2022
Freedom of religion and belief is, along with other human rights, severely restricted within the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Forum 18's survey analysis documents violations including: forced imposition of Russian laws and restrictions on exercising human rights, including freedom of religion or belief; jailing Muslim and Jehovah's Witness Crimean prisoners of conscience; forcible closure of places of worship; and fining people for leading meetings for worship without Russian state permission.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2774
Freedom of religion and belief is, along with other human rights, severely restricted within the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Forum 18's survey analysis documents violations including: forced imposition of Russian laws and restrictions on exercising human rights, including freedom of religion or belief; jailing Muslim and Jehovah's Witness Crimean prisoners of conscience; forcible closure of places of worship; and fining people for leading meetings for worship without Russian state permission.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2774
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: Religious freedom survey, September 2022
Freedom of religion and belief is, along with other human rights, severely restricted within the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Forum 18's survey analysis documents violations including: forced imposition of Russian laws and restrictions…
#CRIMEA: Three 6-year jail terms, with 7-year post-jail bans
On 6 October, a Sevastopol court in Russian-occupied Crimea jailed three Jehovah's Witnesses for six years each on "extremism" charges, followed by a seven-year ban on specific activities. Prosecutor Valery Yazev, who led the case in court, refused to answer Forum 18's questions. The three are appealing, and if this fails are likely to be – against international law - transferred to labour camps in Russia. There are currently 7 Crimean prisoners of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2789
On 6 October, a Sevastopol court in Russian-occupied Crimea jailed three Jehovah's Witnesses for six years each on "extremism" charges, followed by a seven-year ban on specific activities. Prosecutor Valery Yazev, who led the case in court, refused to answer Forum 18's questions. The three are appealing, and if this fails are likely to be – against international law - transferred to labour camps in Russia. There are currently 7 Crimean prisoners of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2789
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: Three 6-year jail terms, with 7-year post-jail bans
On 6 October, a Sevastopol court in Russian-occupied Crimea jailed three Jehovah's Witnesses for six years each on "extremism" charges, followed by a seven-year ban on specific activities. Prosecutor Valery Yazev, who led the case in court, refused to answer…
#CRIMEA: Two "extremism" criminal trials, more raids, criminal investigations
Russian occupation forces have raided more Jehovah's Witness homes in occupied Crimea. Timed to coincide with the raids, investigators launched criminal cases on "extremism" charges against three Jehovah's Witnesses. One - Sergei Parfenovich – has been in pre-trial detention in Simferopol since late September. Two others, Sergei Zhigalov and Viktor Kudinov, are banned from specific activity including "visiting collective meetings of people following the Jehovah's Witness faith"."Believing in God is not punishable, but they continued the activity of a banned organisation," Investigator Maksim Ukrainsky told Forum 18.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2790
Russian occupation forces have raided more Jehovah's Witness homes in occupied Crimea. Timed to coincide with the raids, investigators launched criminal cases on "extremism" charges against three Jehovah's Witnesses. One - Sergei Parfenovich – has been in pre-trial detention in Simferopol since late September. Two others, Sergei Zhigalov and Viktor Kudinov, are banned from specific activity including "visiting collective meetings of people following the Jehovah's Witness faith"."Believing in God is not punishable, but they continued the activity of a banned organisation," Investigator Maksim Ukrainsky told Forum 18.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2790
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: Two "extremism" criminal trials, more raids, criminal investigations
Russian occupation forces have raided more Jehovah's Witness homes in occupied Crimea. Timed to coincide with the raids, investigators launched criminal cases on "extremism" charges against three Jehovah's Witnesses. One - Sergei Parfenovich – has been in…
#CRIMEA: Now 12 jailed Crimean prisoners of conscience
Aleksandr Litvinyuk is not due to complete his jail term and post-prison restrictions until the mid-2030s, by which time he would be over 75. Armyansk Prosecutor's Office refused to put Forum 18 through to Prosecutor Minigul Saddykova, who led the prosecution case in court. Litvinyuk is among 12 Jehovah's Witnesses from Russian-occupied Crimea now jailed for at least six years to punish their exercise of freedom of religion or belief. Two more are serving suspended sentences including Darya Kuzio, wife of one of the prisoners.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2816
Aleksandr Litvinyuk is not due to complete his jail term and post-prison restrictions until the mid-2030s, by which time he would be over 75. Armyansk Prosecutor's Office refused to put Forum 18 through to Prosecutor Minigul Saddykova, who led the prosecution case in court. Litvinyuk is among 12 Jehovah's Witnesses from Russian-occupied Crimea now jailed for at least six years to punish their exercise of freedom of religion or belief. Two more are serving suspended sentences including Darya Kuzio, wife of one of the prisoners.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2816
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: Now 12 jailed Crimean prisoners of conscience
Aleksandr Litvinyuk is not due to complete his jail term and post-prison restrictions until the mid-2030s, by which time he would be over 75. Armyansk Prosecutor's Office refused to put Forum 18 through to Prosecutor Minigul Saddykova, who led the prosecution…
#CRIMEA: Five further criminal investigations, two on wanted list
With 12 Crimean Jehovah's Witnesses serving jail terms of at least six years and two serving suspended jail terms, investigators are pursuing criminal cases against a further five. Two more who have left Crimea are on Russia's wanted list and Russia may illegally have sought Interpol Red Notices for them, as it has done for others. Yuliya Burenina of the National Central Bureau for Interpol of Russia's Interior Ministry refused to explain why Russia has sought Red Notices for individuals wanted for exercising their freedom of religion or belief.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2818
With 12 Crimean Jehovah's Witnesses serving jail terms of at least six years and two serving suspended jail terms, investigators are pursuing criminal cases against a further five. Two more who have left Crimea are on Russia's wanted list and Russia may illegally have sought Interpol Red Notices for them, as it has done for others. Yuliya Burenina of the National Central Bureau for Interpol of Russia's Interior Ministry refused to explain why Russia has sought Red Notices for individuals wanted for exercising their freedom of religion or belief.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2818
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: Five further criminal investigations, two on wanted list
With 12 Crimean Jehovah's Witnesses serving jail terms of at least six years and two serving suspended jail terms, investigators are pursuing criminal cases against a further five. Two more who have left Crimea are on Russia's wanted list and Russia may illegally…
#CRIMEA: "They conducted Friday prayers at gunpoint"
The Russian Police's Centre for Countering Extremism raided Alushta's independent Yukhary-Jami mosque on 23 November, as well as the homes of the Imam, Yusuf Ashirov, and two leaders. A court jailed the three men for several days. While the Imam was jailed, Centre for Countering Extremism officers came to Friday prayers to support an Imam from the Crimean Muslim Board (to which the mosque does not belong). Lieutenant Colonel Ruslan Shambazov told the head of the mosque community to get the community to accept the new Board-imposed Imam.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2877
The Russian Police's Centre for Countering Extremism raided Alushta's independent Yukhary-Jami mosque on 23 November, as well as the homes of the Imam, Yusuf Ashirov, and two leaders. A court jailed the three men for several days. While the Imam was jailed, Centre for Countering Extremism officers came to Friday prayers to support an Imam from the Crimean Muslim Board (to which the mosque does not belong). Lieutenant Colonel Ruslan Shambazov told the head of the mosque community to get the community to accept the new Board-imposed Imam.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2877
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: "They conducted Friday prayers at gunpoint"
The Russian Police's Centre for Countering Extremism raided Alushta's independent Yukhary-Jami mosque on 23 November, as well as the homes of the Imam, Yusuf Ashirov, and two leaders. A court jailed the three men for several days. While the Imam was jailed…
#CRIMEA: Continuing Russian attempts to crush religious communities
After Russian occupation authorities seized all the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's places of worship in Crimea and its priests fled after at least some received summonses for mobilisation, Metropolitan Kliment says its Crimean Diocese "has effectively ceased to exist". The authorities are targeting independent mosques unaffiliated with the Crimean Muslim Board. The Russian Police's Centre for Countering Extremism and other agencies raid mosques and community members' homes. All 6 known 2023 prosecutions for "illegal" missionary activity targeted independent Muslims. Jehovah's Witnesses are targeted with raids and jailings.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2878
After Russian occupation authorities seized all the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's places of worship in Crimea and its priests fled after at least some received summonses for mobilisation, Metropolitan Kliment says its Crimean Diocese "has effectively ceased to exist". The authorities are targeting independent mosques unaffiliated with the Crimean Muslim Board. The Russian Police's Centre for Countering Extremism and other agencies raid mosques and community members' homes. All 6 known 2023 prosecutions for "illegal" missionary activity targeted independent Muslims. Jehovah's Witnesses are targeted with raids and jailings.
https://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2878
www.forum18.org
CRIMEA: Continuing Russian attempts to crush religious communities
After Russian occupation authorities seized all the Orthodox Church of Ukraine's places of worship in Crimea and its priests fled after at least some received summonses for mobilisation, Metropolitan Kliment says its Crimean Diocese "has effectively ceased…