Police officers threaten Jehovah’s Witnesses in Belgorod Province
Portal-credo.ru (11.11.2011) – On 29 October in the city of Valuika, Belgorod province, police Major Georgii Shtepin approached Sergei Brovko and Vasilina Shepetina, who were sharing their faith with other people, and demanded they follow him. At the police station, it was explained to the Jehovah’s Witnesses that they were not under arrest, but nevertheless two police officers in civilian clothing, who refused to introduce themselves (later Jehovah’s Witnesses learned that the surname of one is Mishukov) began interrogating them, the official site of “Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia” reports.
After copying personal information and determining their cell phone numbers, Mishukov demanded that the Jehovah’s Witnesses undergo photographing procedure. When Brovko refused to consent (in accordance with article 13, point 19 of the law “On police,” only persons who have been arrested or persons accused of committing a crime may be photographed), the policemen became angry. They began shouting and one of them grabbed Brovko by the chest and pinned him to the wall and began pressing his neck. Gesturing with his fist, he declared: “Since there are no witnesses, I will now polish you off here!” Seeing that the threats were not effective, the policemen began urging politely them to be photographed. In the end, after composing written statements, Brovko and Shepetin were released.
Sergei Brovko intends to complain against the illegal actions of the police officers. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 October 2011)
source : http://www.hrwf.net/Joom/ http://www.willyfautre.org/