Senior investigator Dmitry Yankin initiates a criminal case against Irina Savkina under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The ruling states that Savkina, "realizing her belonging to [the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses], continued the activities of an extremist organization in the course of many (at least four) secret meetings held on the Internet ... in the form of a collective religious assembly."
The investigation considers illegal the discussion of religious materials, the singing of songs and joint prayers.
Irina Savkina is included in the Rosfinmonitoring list.
The criminal case of Irina Savkina goes to the Birobidzhan District Court of the Jewish Autonomous Region and is assigned to Judge Olga Klyuchikova.
The consideration of the case on its merits begins. Irina Savkina, expressing her attitude to the charges, notes that there is not a single quote from her statements in the case, "which could indicate the presence of hateful motives and extremist goals." Also, the believer wants to defend herself – the court accepts her refusal of an appointed lawyer. The judge grants her motion. The prosecutor reads out the transcript of a meeting for worship discussing Bible questions.