- Joergen Haisem
- (General Dispatch) – Russian court opens case to 5 Jehovah’s Witnesses for carrying out activities and professing their religion in an illegal way, in the Russian state this belief has been catalogued as “extremist ideology” and is not allowed.
- The 5 Citizens were apprehended in the city of Syktyvkar, for apparently holding events and organizing meetings in the search for new members for the religion, according to the authorities, the Jehovah’s Witnesses held this action since 2017.
- “In particular, acting secretly, they carried out the overall management of the organization’s activities, coordinated illegal activities, organized and held meetings of members of a banned organization and raised funds to finance the activities of a banned extremist organization” the court said.
- One of those arrested is in the custody of the authorities, two are under house arrest and the latter are not allowed to leave the city, pending a verdict in the case.
- Some witnesses were interrogated and declared that there are even more active members of the organization. Some houses of those involved were searched for information about other activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses apart from those declared.
- Russia’s Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist religion in 2017 after they through propaganda violently lashed out at other religious groups.
- Much of their propaganda referred to the church as Orthodox and that they engaged in sorcery. From that moment on, the Russian government imposed a law that considered this religion illegal, prosecuting and imprisoning a large number of members.
- Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia can serve sentences of up to 10 years, considering them to be extremist groups. Two Witnesses were previously imprisoned and convicted of recruiting and organizing a group for the religion.
Adittional Information:
Breitbart: Russia Expands Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses
HRW: Russia: Escalating Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses
