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Jehovah Witnesses member suspected of financing extremism detained in Yalta

A criminal case was opened against one of the founders of the Yalta cell of the Jehovah Witnesses religious organization

SEVASTOPOL, March 12. /TASS/. A member of the Jehovah's Witnesses extremist group (outlawed in Russia) has been detained in Yalta on suspicion of fundraising for the religious community, the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee’s department for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol said on Friday.

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"A criminal case was opened against one of the founders of the Yalta cell of the Jehovah Witnesses religious organization. <…> It has been established that the man has been raising funds for the extremist organization," it said.

The criminal case was opened under part 1, article 282.3 of the Russian Criminal Code that carries a punishment of up to eight years in prison. The detention was organized by the Russian Federal Security Service’s Crimea and Sevastopol directorate and the Russian Interior Ministry’s economic security and corruption department for the Republic of Crimea.

According to the press service, law enforcers conducted 13 searches of the places of residence of the organization’s activists that yielded illegal printed materials, computer devices, electronic storage devices and other related materials.

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