Alexander Kopylets
- Criminal Code
- Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 282.3 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Extremism casesCases against Jehovah's Witnesses
- Region
- Occupied territory of Republic of Crimea
- City
- Simferopol
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religionby Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
In November 2022, mass searches of Jehovah's Witnesses took place in the Simferopol district of Crimea, and two of them became defendants in a criminal case.
In August 2023, new searches took place in Armyansk, Simferopol and Saki, including at the home of Kopylts, who also became a defendant in the case of involvement in the activities of an extremist organisation. He was placed under house arrest.
Representatives of this community are prosecuted under extremist articles solely because of their religious activities - holding meetings and worship services, attracting new supporters.
On 11 December 2023, the court returned the case to the prosecutor's office. In May 2024, the case came back to court.
Others charged under Article 282.2 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
What we write about political persecution
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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
OVD-Info has been designated an «extremist» organisation in Russia — by decision of the Russian authorities, like other independent human rights and media projects.