SIMFEROPOL, August 29. /TASS/. A leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses religious organization (outlawed in Russia) has been detained in Crimea, the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Crimea and Sevastopol said in a statement.

"A man born in 1972 has been detained on suspicion of organizing the activities of a religious cell in the cities of Yalta and Alushta. It has been established that the man coordinated the meetings of the group’s members, where the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ ideas were promoted, their texts were discussed, and related literature was distributed," the statement reads.

The Russian Investigative Committee pointed out in Telegram that the committee’s main investigation directorate in Crimea and Sevastopol had launched a criminal investigation against the man, identified as a 52-year-old resident of the settlement of Zaprudnoye. He is charged with organizing the activities of the religious organization that a court has ruled to be dissolved or banned due to its extremist activities (Article 282.2.1 of the Russian Criminal Code).

The regional FSB branch added that banned literature and other illegal materials had been seized during a search of the man’s home.