Tag Archives: Jehovah’s Witness

Russian court bans Jehovah’s Witnesses as extremist

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Jehovah’s Witnesses were an “extremist” organization and must disband and hand over all property to the state, local media said.

The religious grouping confirmed the ruling about its “liquidation” in Russia.

“We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity,” Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, said in emailed comments.

“We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have 30 days to submit their appeal for consideration by a three-person panel.

Religious life in Russia is dominated by the Orthodox Church, which exerts considerable political influence and enjoys the support of President Vladimir Putin. Some Orthodox scholars view Jehovah’s Witnesses as a ‘totalitarian sect’.

Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Cherepanov, a Jehovah’s Witnesses representative, as saying that the group will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

“We will do everything possible,” he said.

Russian authorities have put several of the group’s publications on a list of banned extremist literature and prosecutors have long cast it as an organization that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives.

The group, a United States-based Christian denomination known for its door-to-door preaching and rejection of military service and blood transfusions, says this description is false.

The religious organization has expanded around the world and has about eight million active followers. It has faced court proceedings in several countries, mostly over its pacifism and rejection of blood transfusions, but Russia has been most outspoken in portraying it as an extremist cult.

The ruling was issued after the justice ministry applied for an order to shut down the group’s national headquarters near St Petersburg.

Its Russian branch, based near St Petersburg, has said a ban would directly affect around 400 of its groups and have an impact on all of its 2,277 religious groups in Russia, where it says it has 175,000 followers.

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Ralph Boulton)

Russian court to consider ban on ‘extremist’ Jehovah’s Witnesses HQ

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s Supreme Court is to consider whether Jehovah’s Witnesses is an “extremist” organization after the justice ministry applied for an order to shut down the group’s national headquarters near St Petersburg.

The U.S.-founded Jehovah’s Witnesses says it numbers about 8 million people worldwide.

The religious organization is known for its foreign ministries as well as its door-to-door campaigns, but has had problems for years with Russian authorities, who view it as a pernicious cult, an allegation it denies.

Authorities have put several of its publications on a list of banned extremist literature, and prosecutors have long cast it as an organization that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives, a description the organization says is false.

A filing on the Supreme Court’s website said it would convene on April 5 to consider the justice ministry’s application to order the closure of the organization’s Russian headquarters and ban its activity.

The Russian branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses said it rejected the charge it was an extremist organization. It said such a ban would directly affect around 400 of its groups and impact on all of its 2,277 religious groups in Russia which it said united 175,000 followers.

“Millions of believers all over the world consider the ministry’s actions a big mistake,” it said in a statement. “If this lawsuit is successful, it will entail catastrophic consequences for freedom of religious worship in Russia.”

Russian investigators conducted a large-scale inspection of its national headquarters near St. Petersburg earlier this year, carting off many documents.

According to Amnesty International, 16 members of the group in southern Russia were found guilty of organizing and participating in a banned “extremist organization” in late 2015.

Rights activists have criticized Russia for the way it applies a 2006 law which widened the definition of extremism.

(Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva and Andrew Osborn; Editing by Toby Davis)