Third of five detained members of Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg arrested

TASS, Russia/June 8, 2017

St. Petersburg -- A district court in St. Petersburg has sustained the investigator’s request to put under arrest for two months a third of the five persons accused in a criminal case involving the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg, who were detained by the federal security service FSB earlier this week.

"The court ruled Galina Shurinova shall be remanded in custody till August 5," the court’s spokeswoman Darya Lebedeva said.

Earlier, the court ordered the arrest of the organization’s chief accountant Sahib Aliyev and chief of the official relations department Anastasiya Terentieva. The court is expected to make a decision regarding restrictive measures against the two other detainees later today and on Friday.

The group under investigation is charged with illegal business activity, such as commercial courses and programs without obtaining the required registration. The amount of cash received is estimated at about 276 million rubles ($4,840,742).

This week the regional office of the federal security service FSB held searches within the framework of a criminal case opened against the Church of Scientology over illegal business activity, incitement of hatred and organization of an extremist group. Books and other materials outlawed in Russia as extremist were confiscated.

The investigators say the Church of Scientology in St. Petersburg is an extremist organization.

In Russia, some scientological materials have been recognized as extremist and blacklisted. Their production, circulation and keeping is prohibited.

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