ORYOL. Dec 9 (Interfax) - Investigators in the Russian city of Oryol have opened a criminal case against three adherents of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, banned in Russia, the Russian Investigative Committee's regional branch said on Wednesday.
The investigation has been opened on a count of arranging an extremist group's activities.
According to investigators, the suspects are members of the council of elders of the Jehovah's Witnesses cell in Oryol and took steps to maintain the functioning of the outlawed organization.
"Acting jointly and in coordination, being driven by extremist motives, they convened meetings of the Jehovah's Witnesses' Oryol cell in the territory of the Oryol region, personally participated in them, and formed their agenda," it said.
Officers of the regional departments of Russia's Federal Security Service and Interior Ministry helped uncover the crime, it said.
Necessary investigative procedures with the suspects are currently in progress and all circumstances of the crime are being established.