Jehovah’s Witnesses Tortured in Russia

Key Points:

• Jehovah’s Witnesses were subjected to physical abuse—electric shocks, suffocation, and beatings

• The agents put a bags over their heads and sealed it with tape,
• tied their hands behind their back, and beat them.
• striped the Witnesses naked and dousing them with water and then agents shocked them with stun guns

At least seven of Jehovah’s Witnesses were subjected to physical abuse—electric shocks, suffocation, and beatings—by Russian investigators in the western Siberian city of Surgut. While torturing the men, the officers demanded to know the locations of their meetings and the identity of other Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The incident began when authorities in Surgut carried out raids in the early morning hours of February 15, 2019. After arresting some Witnesses and taking them to the Investigative Committee offices, the authorities began interrogating the men, who refused to disclose details about their fellow worshippers.

The agents put a bag over their head and sealed it with tape, tied their hands behind their back, and beat them. After stripping the Witnesses naked and dousing them with water, the agents shocked them with stun guns. The torture lasted for about two hours.

Russia has been conducting a campaign against Jehovah’s Witnesses in an attempt to deprive the group of their right to freedom of religion.

On Thursday, May 3, 2018, the Saint Petersburg City Court upheld the original December 2017 decision, allowing the Russian government to immediately confiscate our former Russia branch facilities in Solnechnoye.