Consuelo Madrigal: "I don't consider Jehovah's Witnesses dangerous in any way"

"In Spain, they [Jehovah's Witnesses] have been registered in the Register of Religious Organizations of the Ministry of Justice since 1970.

From that day until now, this denomination encourages its members to live in harmony with their faith and views, which include obedience to the law, respect for the rights of others and cooperation with the authorities. Therefore, I do not consider them dangerous in any way. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

From my professional point of view, they exercise their rights, or try to do it without going beyond the legal framework, and go to the courts when they believe that their rights have been violated.

Religious freedom is a part of social well-being, the right of citizens, one and all, to adhere to certain religious views, to hold worship services, to profess or not to profess a particular religion. I believe that the peaceful exercise of this right actively and passively contributes to the social well-being of citizens and society as a whole. Thus, restricting religious freedom will have a negative impact on a society that thrives only when everyone's rights are respected.

I believe that this is unacceptable, because the activities of this denomination in our country over the past more than 40 years have not led to anything that could be called extremism. The activities of this denomination, as well as others, are carried out by believers who, professing their religion, are guided by a personal conscience. By trying to share their faith with others, they remain within the framework of religious freedom.

In our country, they have never participated in activities that can be described as extremist, and their religious views have nothing to do with extremism — if by this term we mean propaganda of violence and enmity. On the contrary, Jehovah's Witnesses preach peace, and above all they apply their teachings in their lives. They try to exercise their legal rights, respecting the legitimate rights of others, peacefully and never resorting to violence."

Consuelo Madrigal, lawyer, teacher, until 2016 Attorney General of Spain.