ROSTOV-ON-DON. Feb 27 (Interfax) - The Yalta City Court sentenced on Monday three organizers of a cell of Jehovah's Witnesses, a religious organization banned in Russia, and one of their accomplices, Olga Postnova, spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee's branch in Crimea and Sevastopol, told reporters.
"Three organizers have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, from six years and six months to six years and one month in a general penitentiary. As they serve time, their freedom will be restricted for another year. The court passed a suspended sentence of three years with an equal probation period on a cell activist," Postnova said.
Depending on their role, the defendants were found guilty of organizing an extremist network and financing extremism.
According to the investigators, five residents of Yalta, including one wanted, joined the local cell of the Jehovah's Witnesses extremist organization, banned in Russia, in 2015. After the organization was banned, they discretely continued their activity, in particular, ceded the title to a plot accommodating the Hall of Kingdoms to their acquaintance. Sect followers organized meetings and lectures at private houses and raised donations.
Russia's Federal Security Service and Interior Ministry detected the cell in March 2021.
The Russian Supreme Court upheld the Justice Ministry's motion in April 2017, branding Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organization and banning its operations in Russia.