A Jehovah’s Witness from Saratov, a major city on the Volga River, was beaten with a stun gun during a search.

Mikhail Proshenkov, a Jehovah’s Witness from Saratov, a major city on the Volga River, was subjected to violence during a search on 3 September. This was reported by a portal that covers the persecution of members of this faith.

According to his relatives, law enforcement officers first burst into the flat and forced the 58-year-old believer face down on the floor, breaking his glasses. The investigator then demanded the computer password, and after Proshenkov refused, began threatening to use violence against him and his son. When they refused again, the officers struck Proshenkov with a stun gun six times in the thigh, shin, and abdomen.

Proshenkov is accused of organising the activities of an extremist organisation (part 1, article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code), and has been placed in Pre-trial Detention Centre No. 1 for the Saratov Region.