[{"body":"The UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR) has ruled that Russia violated the rights of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses from Ufa who were subjected to searches, interrogations and — in one case — detention. In its Views adopted on March 13, 2026, the Committee for the first time applied articles 26 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in a case of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses, noting that Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses are a \u0026quot;vulnerable religious minority\u0026quot; facing discrimination by the state.\nCaption: In this video, produced in June 2018, the applicants describe what they had to go through during and after the searches.\nThe believers filed their complaint 8 years ago — on April 30, 2018. A few weeks earlier, the authorities had authorized searches of their homes, seized Bibles, religious publications and personal belongings, and then interrogated them at the Investigative Committee. In their submission to the CCPR the believers said that \u0026quot;the authorities tried to intimidate them and force them to renounce their faith aiming to suppress the religious practice of Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses,\u0026quot; and noted that \u0026quot;without any reasonable or objective grounds, they were subjected to criminal prosecution that no other religious organization in Russia had faced.\u0026quot;\n\u0026quot;At the time of my detention, only one Witness, Dennis Christensen, had been arrested,\u0026quot; recalled Anatoliy Vilitkevich, one of the applicants. \u0026quot;My wife and I were following the news and were really worried about how things would unfold. We thought that if the police did come, it would be during a meeting for worship; they would question everyone and let them go — because then, as now, we were sure we hadn\u0026#39;t done anything illegal.\u0026quot; After the raid, Anatoliy spent 2 months behind bars. He was charged with organizing the activity of a banned organization for friendly gatherings and conversations on spiritual topics. In September 2021, Anatoliy was given a 2-year suspended sentence.\nThe Committee called the restrictions imposed on Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses by the state under the banner of \u0026quot;counteracting extremism\u0026quot; unfounded. \u0026quot;Rather than pointing out any extremist activities perpetrated by the authors [of the complaint], the authorities effectively banned their religious practice in its entirety by subjecting any manifestation thereof to criminal prosecution,\u0026quot; the Views state (para. 9.9). The Committee finds that such excessive interpretation and application of the Supreme Court decision resulted in denial of the authors' \u0026quot;right to profess and practice their own religion in community with the other members of their religious minority group\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;threatened the continued existence of their religious community.\u0026quot;\nIn the case Vilitkevich and Others v. Russia (No. 3192/2018), there were 12 applicants (in addition to Anatoliy, they were Alyona Vilitkevich, Venera Mikhaylova, Viner Ganiev, Alfiya Ilyasova, Syuzanna Ilyasova, Yelena Kozhevnikova, Oksana Lapina, Gulfiya Khafizova, Lilianna Khafizova, Nadezhda Yakimova and Olesya Yakimova). The oldest was born in 1960, the youngest in 2001. The Committee ordered the state to pay the believers adequate compensation for court costs and legal expenses, and to compensate Anatoliy Vilitkevich additionally for his time in detention.\nIn the concluding part of its Views, the Committee effectively takes the case beyond a single Ufa story. It obliges the state to provide an effective remedy, \u0026quot;to make full reparation,\u0026quot; and \u0026quot;to take all steps necessary to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future\u0026quot; — a demand for justice for all Jehovah\u0026#39;s Witnesses prosecuted in Russia, who now number around 1,000.\n","category":"victory","date":"2026-03-13T00:00:00Z","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2026/04/241429/image_hu_73546cb5427c4351.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2026/04/241429/image_hu_4b07cb1f6205a42.jpg","webp":"/news/2026/04/241429/image_hu_5b2a5c091088a2a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2026/04/241429/image_hu_b630357744e78a82.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2026/04/241429.html","regions":["moscow","bashkortostan"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["unhrc","international-community","compensation","video"],"title":"For the First Time CCPR Recognizes Discrimination Against Jehovah’s Witnesses as Religious Minority: Based on the Experience of 12 Believers From Ufa","type":"news"},{"body":"In 2023, the number of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses criminally prosecuted for their faith reached almost 800, and the number of searches exceeded 2,000. Cases are fabricated against the elderly, women and the disabled. More than a quarter of all prosecuted are persons over 60 years of age. By the end of the year, there were already six Jehovah’s Witness women in penal colonies. The tendency to prosecute entire families has increased. The length of imprisonment requested by prosecutors has reached 10 years. Statistics and details are included in this article. The Year in Numbers As of December 25, 2023, the total number of homes of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses searched is 2,058. In 2023, law enforcement officers raided 183 addresses, 43 people were detained, 15 of whom have been or are still in pretrial detention. During the year, Russian courts issued rulings regarding 147 Jehovah’s Witnesses, 47 of whom were sentenced to imprisonment for a cumulative term of more than 257 years (the previous year 44 people were sentenced to a cumulative term of 244 years in penal colonies). Thirty-three people received sentences in penal colonies of 6 years or more. Of these, the longest term of 8 years in a penal colony was given to Dmitriy Barmakin, whose story will be discussed below. On December 22, 2023, the court sentenced Aleksandr Rumyantsev from Moscow to 7.5 years in penal colony (Sean Pike, a citizen of Guyana, and Eduard Sviridov from Moscow, are in the same case and were sentenced to 7 and 6.5 years in a penal colony, respectively). Astrakhan residents Rinat Kiramov, Sergey Korolev and Sergey Kosyanenko, as well as Aleksandr Skvortsov from Taganrog and Evgeniy Bushev from Chelyabinsk received 7 years of imprisonment. In the Bushev case, it took the court just five sessions to conclude that talking about a Bible topic is such a serious crime. Later, it turned out that an officer of the National Guard had participated in the conversation, pretending to be interested in the Bible. On December 19, 2023, a court in Novosibirsk sentenced Marina Chaplykina to 4 years in a penal colony. She became the sixth woman from among Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses to receive a prison sentence for their faith.\nEight of Jehovah’s Witnesses were released from prison this past year. Seventy-nine people remain in penal colonies.\n\"The believers trials do not end with being released from the penal colony,\" explains Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses. \"The believers continue to serve additional punishments. For example, during a period appointed by the court, they cannot leave their place of residence. An electronic tracking bracelet is put on the ankle of some for many months, by which the authorities track the location of the person. This device must not be removed. After serving their sentences many are forbidden from working in certain areas, such as education.\"\nThe total number of criminal cases initiated against believers since 2017 has reached 376. The defendants amount to 789 people; 444 believers were convicted, 141 of whom received imprisonment. In all cases, there are no victims, actual crimes or evidence of illegal actions. The cases are initiated for ordinary religious activities: praying, reading the Bible, singing religious songs, etc. Most of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who are prosecuted for their faith are included in the list of extremists and terrorists maintained by the Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring). The state imposes a number of serious economic restrictions on those who are listed on it; for example, their bank accounts are blocked, which makes it difficult to receive salaries, pensions and complete other transactions. At the time of publication of this article, there are 521 believers on the list, 72 of whom were added to the list in 2023.\nTerms are Breaking Records In Magadan, the case of 13 believers, including Ivan Puyda, the son and grandson of Jehovah’s Witnesses who had been repressed under Soviet rule, reached its conclusion. Now he too could receive a lengthy sentence – 10 years. That is how much the prosecutor requested in the closing arguments on November 24, 2023.\nIf Puyda gets 10 years in prison, it will be a unprecedented record in the cases of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses. Currently, the maximum term in a penal colony is 8 years, and five believers are serving this: Aleksey Berchuk, Rustam Diarov, Yevgeniy Ivanov and Sergey Klikunov.\nOn December 4, 2023, in Irkutsk, the prosecutor requested terms ranging from 3 to 7 years for a group of nine Jehovah’s Witnesses, the longest for Yaroslav Kalin, Nikolay Martynov, Aleksey Solnechny and Sergey Kosteyev. Yaroslav Kalin also comes from a family of those repressed for their faith. Kalin’s lawyer said: \"My client is being tried for the same thing for which his parents were exiled to Siberia, more than 70 years ago.\" Ironically, Kalin’s parents have been officially exonerated, but their son is now being tried for the same \"crime\".\nNew Regions In 2023, the territory affected by prosecutions has expanded. In February, the first searches in the Leningrad Region took place in the cities of Kingisepp and Slantsy, five people were detained and a criminal case was initiated. On April 4, 2023, searches were carried out for the first time in St. Petersburg.\nAt the end of February, searches in at least three addresses took place in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia. Kishta Tutinova, 62, was detained, and after 2 days behind bars she was placed under house arrest.\nIn total, Jehovah’s Witnesses are already being prosecuted in 74 regions of the Russian Federation.\nVladimir Piskarev, Vladimir Melnik and Artur Putintsev were kept in a cage during their trial in Oryol Aleksandr Skortsov and Valeriy Tibiy did not lose heart despite unjust prosecution Konstantin Sannikov in the so-called \u0026#34;aquarium\u0026#34; — an enclosure where usually especially dangerous criminals are held during the trial During the announcement of the verdict, the bailiff handcuffs the seriously ill Vladimir Balabkin Sergey Klimov with his wife immediately after his release from the penal colony Defendants in the case of Tchaikovsky and others in Moscow are taken into custody after the verdict is announced Aleksandr Nikolayev with his wife and daughters after his release from the penal colony Convicted residents of Gukovo communicate via video call from the pretrial detention center with the group of supporters that came to the cassation hearing On the day of Yuriy Savelyev’s release from the penal colony, he was met by a large group of supporters Rustam Seidkuliev’s wife and friends are taking pictures with him after his release from the penal colony in Saratov From left to right: Sergey Kosyanenko, Rinat Kiramov and Sergey Korolev behind bars in the courtroom Muscovites Anatoliy Marunov, Sergey Tolokonnikov and Roman Mareyev were sentenced to long terms for their faith In Surgut, friends came to the courthouse to support their convicted fellow believers, on the day of the verdict. Outdoor temperature was -29°C Marina married Sergey Shulyarenko, convicted for his faith, right in the penal colony Prosecution of the Elderly and Disabled Almost 26% of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses who have been prosecuted for their faith since 2017 (205 people) are over 60 years old. Criminal cases were initiated against 17 believers in this category in 2023. The oldest of them is 85 years old (the youngest is 19 years old).\nLaw enforcement officers and judges are not troubled by the age, serious illnesses or disabilities of those they accuse. So, on September 13 of this year, a court in the Amur Region sentenced Vladimir Balabkin, 71, suffering from cancer, to 4 years in a penal colony (the prosecutor had requested 2.5 times longer). Immediately after the verdict, he was taken into custody. About three months later, on December 19, 2023, the court of appeal replaced the sentence with a a 1-year suspended sentence, and the believer was released.\nOn September 14, 2023, the Maykop City Court sent 68-year-old Nikolay Voishchev to a penal colony. Even before his arrest, he was diagnosed with a tumor that required immediate treatment. While in prison he is not receiving the adequate medical care he still needs.\nIn the Novosibirsk Region, Andrey Vlasov, a 54-year-old disabled person, continues to serve his sentence for his faith. He suffers from serious illnesses, including deforming arthrosis of both hip joints, which makes it impossible for him to take care of himself. But both the court of appeal and the court of cassation upheld the guilty verdict.\nRepression of Entire Families By the end of the year, more than 70 families in 35 regions of the Russian Federation had become easy prey for law enforcement officers, for whom this is often an easy way to improve their performance and move up the career ladder. In some cases, the husband and wife were sent to prison at the same time, for example, Yelena and Georgiy Nikulin from Saransk. Both received more than 4 years in a penal colony.\n\"Other family members who are not under investigation are also subjected to direct or indirect pressure. After the searches, the security forces interrogate them, threaten to imprison them or a relative if they do not begin to give the investigation the testimony requested against their relative and fellow believers. Simply put, they are invited to become secret agents, to conduct covert audio and video recordings of how believers discuss Bible teachings, pray and sing religious songs together, in order to later call it \"the activity of a banned religious organization,\" says Yaroslav Sivulskiy. \"Another form of indirect pressure on relatives is denying visits to imprisoned family members.\"\nReversal of Acquittals One of the significant trends of 2023 was canceling the acquittals of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This happened on July 6, 2023, with the case of Aleksandr Pryanikov and Venera and Darya Dulova; the case reached the Supreme Court, which overturned the acquittal, although before that the Sverdlovsk Regional Court had twice overturned the guilty verdicts.\nIn the case of Ivan Sorokin and Andrey Zhukov in Yugorsk, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, the acquittal was overturned on November 20, 2023.\nDmitriy Barmakin from Vladivostok became the first Russian Jehovah’s Witness to be acquitted in a criminal case for his faith on November 22, 2021. This decision lasted only until April 27, 2023, when the same court, the Pervorechensky District Court of Vladivostok, sentenced the believer to 8 years in a penal colony. However, later, on August 8, 2023, the Primorsky Regional Court overturned this decision and sent the case for review.\nAleksey Khabarov from Porkhov, Pskov Region, who was initially acquitted, was sentenced at the third trial on October 25, 2023, to 2 years and 6 months in a penal colony. The court of appeal reduced the term by only 2 months.\nThe Supreme Court Does Not Comply With Its Own Judgement It seems paradoxical that acquittals of Jehovah’s Witnesses are consistently overturned by the Supreme Court, whose position is that meeting for worship in itself cannot be considered a crime (in the cases of Jehovah’s Witnesses, this is the only corpus delicti). On October 28, 2021, the Plenum of the Supreme Court published a ruling stating: \"If a court adopts a decision, which enters into force, to liquidate or ban the activity of a public or religious association or other organization regarding extremist activity, subsequent actions of persons that are not related to the continuation or resumption of the activity of the relevant extremist organization and consist solely in exercising their right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including through individual or joint practice of religion, meetings for worship or other religious rites and ceremonies, in themselves, if they do not contain signs of extremism, do not constitute a crime\" (emphasis added).\nHowever, in practice, some judges of the Supreme Court do not consider it necessary to follow this position. They simply repeat the prosecution’s narrative that any collective practice of worship by Jehovah’s Witnesses is \"extremist.\"\nIn total, the Supreme Court has already overturned two acquittals of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In addition to the above-mentioned case of Pryanikov and the Dulovs, a similar decision was made on December 15, 2022 in the case of the Bazhenovs and Vera Zolotova.\nJudgments of the European Court of Human Rights On January 31, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights considered seven applications by Jehovah’s Witnesses from Russia relating to events from 2010 to 2014. In all of them, the court sided with the applicants and ordered Russia to pay compensation in the amount of 345,773 euros and another 5,000 euros as legal costs.\nThis is the second judgement of the ECHR in the case of Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses in the last 2 years. In the summer of 2022, the ECHR also exonerated believers in a larger lawsuit related to the illegal liquidation of all legal entities of the Witnesses and the seizure of their property. The total amount of compensation under this decision exceeds 63 million euros.\nAlas, so far the decisions of the ECHR have no visible impact on the practice of the Russian law enforcement system. The Russian authorities are in no hurry to pay compensation to exonerated believers, and continue to sentence them to long prison terms.\nExactly on the day of the decision of the ECHR, June 7, 2022, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted laws under an accelerated procedure, according to which ECHR judgments issued after March 15, 2022 are not enforceable in Russia.\n\u0026quot;The Case of the Eighteen\u0026quot; in Surgut: Faith is a Crime, Torture is Heroism In 2023, a high-profile case in Surgut approached its conclusion, which received wide publicity because the believers were tortured. The case against 18 men and one woman from Surgut, including a man whom the investigation mistakenly mistook for one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has been dragging on since February 2019. Seven defendants went through severe torture during interrogation, and one of them, Timofey Zhukov, was forcibly placed in a psychiatric hospital and later obtained compensation for this. The torture in Surgut was widely covered in the Russian media; the believers met with the Human Rights Ombudsman for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region and employees of the offices of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Russian Federation and conferences were held with the participation of human rights defenders.\nIn November 2023, the prosecutor requested harsh terms for the believers \u0026ndash; up to 9.5 years in a penal colony (for Sergey Loginov). On December 5, 2023, all the defendants in the Surgut case were given suspended sentences ranging from 4 to 7 years. Sergey Loginov and Timofey Zhukov were given the longest sentences of 7 years.\nAt the same time, not a single criminal case has been initiated for the torture of the believers. Moreover, later the head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee, where Jehovah’s Witnesses were tortured, Vladimir Yermolaev and his subordinate Sergey Bogoderov received awards, and the soldiers of the National Guard of Russia who participated in the operation were rewarded.\n\"Have They Succeeded in Intimidating Jehovah’s Witnesses?\" Sergei Ivanenko, Ph.D. in Philosophy, a religious scholar who attended as an expert at 14 judicial trials against Jehovah’s Witnesses in different regions of Russia, writes his impressions in his book \"The People Who Are Steadfast in Persecution\" published in 2023: \"Jehovah’s Witnesses... consider it their religious responsibility to preach Christianity to law enforcement officials, judges, and also to prisoners... Have they succeeded in intimidating Jehovah’s Witnesses? No, they have not. They continue to preach, to help each other, and to support prisoners of conscience. According to the believers, persecution strengthens their faith in Jehovah, and strong faith brings inner peace... Those who know the history of Jehovah's Witnesses understand that they have endured the most severe persecution and have not forsaken their faith. Nor does persecution in today's Russia frighten them.\"\n","category":"analytics","date":"2023-12-27T13:08:20+02:00","duration":"1:56","image":{"jpg":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_8ce5188d4fbb9f2c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_7d61162a90e88d55.jpg","webp":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_c30bde6a69fa6960.webp","webp2x":"/news/2023/12/271308/image2_hu_7cb627d2f70ce16.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2023/12/271308.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","elderly","disability","video","rosfinmonitoring","medical-rights","siloviks-violence","torture","international","supreme-court","echr","international-community","expert-conclusions","fabrications","statistics","analytics","review"],"title":"Jehovah’s Witnesses Under the Yoke of Repression — 2023 Overview","type":"video"},{"body":"Andrey Vlasov, 54, who is disabled, was sentenced to 7 years in a penal colony for his Christian beliefs. Due to a serious illness, he cannot manage without external help. The four-minute video tells what the believer has to face while waiting for the decision of the court of cassation.\nIn May 2022, the Central District Court of Prokopyevsk found Andrey Vlasov guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organisation and sentenced him to 7 years in a penal colony. In July of the same year, the court of appeal confirmed the verdict. The courts considered it a crime that the believer participated in religious meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses via videoconferencing. According to the court, by discussing Bible commandments, the believer undermined the foundations of the constitutional order of state and society.\nNatalya Vlasova, Andrey's wife: “Not a single piece of evidence was given. Well, for example, undermining the constitutional order of the country. How is it expressed? No mention of what my husband actually did. Breaking family ties. Which family, exactly, did he destroy? Name, surname, address, place of residence? Nothing is specified. The indictment just quoted Article 282. Andrey gave his final statement on May 23, 2022. Literally after a 5-minute break, the judge pronounced the sentence - 7 years.”\nMaksim Polezhaykin, Andrey Vlasov's stepson: “My reaction is shock. Also the people who were present there, friends, acquaintances, relatives, were also all shocked.”\nThe courts did not take into account Andrey's state of health. He was taken into custody in the courtroom and sent to a pre-trial detention center. Earlier, after the searches and arrest in 2020, Andrey Vlasov was already in custody (later he was put under house arrest). Obviously, the conditions of imprisonment are unacceptable and painful for the believer.\nAleksandr Vakarev, surgeon, orthopedic traumatologist: \"Andrey suffers from a severe form of osteoarthritis of both hip joints with their ankylosing, that is, total stiffness, as a result of which Andrey's functions of movement, personal care and socializing suffer.\"\nAs Maksim Polezhaykin said, after the arrest, Andrey Vlasov ended up in a cell in a pre-trial detention center alone, without external help: “In order to simply put on his pants, he had to roll on the floor.” Because of unsanitary conditions, the believer had to tidy up the cell on his own: “Huge cockroaches run around, cobwebs are everywhere, dirty. He tidied up, more or less for himself having to be there,” said Maksim.\nArtur Ganin, lawyer: “The decree of the government of the Russian Federation establishes a general group of diseases, which specifically includes his disease. In order to somehow show this to the court, I turned to a specialist. Unfortunately, this disease can progress, and it is already progressing.”\nNow Vlasov is in penal colony No. 3 in the Novosibirsk Region. He appealed the verdict and the appeal decision to the court of cassation, which has the power to restore freedom and decent living conditions to the believer.\nAccording to Natalya Vlasova, Andrey remains optimistic and tries to keep in touch with her and his friends through letters. “Having already passed through these two years, I found myself thinking that in the beginning I was afraid. In fact, just waiting is scary. When it happens, Jehovah is so close, you can really feel his support!”\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2022-11-14T10:45:34+02:00","duration":"4:01","image":{"jpg":"/news/2022/11/141045/image_hu_8d6bfc58fcaa06d4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2022/11/141045/image_hu_c503a05b1284266b.jpg","webp":"/news/2022/11/141045/image_hu_6b2a05f8dacd7ff0.webp","webp2x":"/news/2022/11/141045/image_hu_c0e0a760026ea735.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2022/11/141045.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["disability","health-risk","video","282.2-1","liberty-deprivation"],"title":"In the Penal Colony, The Health of Andrey Vlasov From Prokopyevsk, Who is Disabled, is Deteriorating","type":"video"},{"body":"Olga Opaleva, a 69-year-old pensioner from Primorye, has been prosecuted for her faith in Jehovah for the third year. The security forces searched and detained the believer, knowing that she had a heart attack the night before. A few months later, on the way to the hearing, Olga suffered a stroke. In another city, Olga's son, Vitaliy Ilinykh, is on trial for his convictions.\nThe criminal case against Olga was initiated on November 12, 2018. A few days later her house was searched. Recalling those events, Olga says: “They took a grinder and sawed the door for me. They asked me: ‘Why didn’t you open it?’ I couldn’t answer, because I had a heart attack right the night before”. Despite this, law enforcement officers forcibly took the elderly woman for questioning to the investigator. Olga Opaleva spent the next two days in a temporary detention center. The believer says: “After a heart attack, of course, I felt very bad. They put handcuffs on me, brought me to court, put me in a cage.\" The judge put the elderly woman under house arrest.\nA few months later, Olga Opaleva suffered a stroke when a Federal Correctional Service vehicle came for her to take her to the hearing. As a result, an ambulance took her to the intensive care unit of a local hospital. The believer's lawyer Aleksey Izbrekht says: \"According to the documents, she was admitted to a medical institution in a serious condition.\" Vitaliy, Olga's son, recalls: “When I saw her in this state, to say simply that I was worried is, in principle, to say nothing. When our eyes met, the first thing she did was smile, she burst into tears. \"\nJust a few days later, Vitaliy Ilinykh himself was detained because of his faith in Jehovah God. Now both mother and son are involved in criminal cases. Vitaliy explains: “With the criminal prosecution of my mother, the litigation began, which now affected me. As the investigator told me, if you remain Jehovah's Witness, in fact, if you have not renounced your religion, then you are an extremist. When I tried to explain what is the difference between a faith and a legal entity, the investigator simply refused to listen and said: “I don't care. I do my job, I am told what to do and I do it. \" The court chose a preventive measure against Vitaliy in the form of a recognizance not to leave the place.\nOlga Opaleva's lawyer notes: “She is accused of talking to people on biblical topics. And such talk about the Bible is imputed by the investigation as recruitment. The prosecution itself does not deny the fact that no damage, no real damage from Opaleva's actions arose.” He adds: “To suspect such people in actions of an extremist nature is, of course, an absurd accusation.”\nOlga and Vitaliy assure that the persecution did not deprive them of their peaceful convictions and did not shake their faith in God. Vitaliy is sure: “It's better with God in prison than without God at liberty.”\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2021-08-09T16:01:50+03:00","duration":"3:52","image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/08/091601/image_hu_5a41927df4da94f5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/08/091601/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/08/091601/image_hu_991add508d76db1.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/08/091601/image_hu_4e55e3c04d1f4fa4.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/08/091601.html","regions":["primorye"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","elderly","health-risk","families"],"title":"\"After a Heart Attack, I Was Put Into a Cage in Handcuffs.\" The Story of the Persecution for Faith of Olga Opaleva and Her Son in Primorye","type":"video"},{"body":"A believer shows videos of religious meetings. Nataliya draws the prosecutor's attention to the fact that there are no calls for violence and extremism at the services, and the disciples of Jesus Christ have always been distinguished by love.\n","caseTitle":"The Kriger Case in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-07-06T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan17/index.html#20210706","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["video","first-instance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"At the next court session, a video recording of a religious meeting is viewed, during which the judge and the prosecutor indicate to the defendant her participation in the worship service. Nataliya explains that during the meeting, Bible teachings were discussed to encourage love for all people.\n","caseTitle":"The Kriger Case in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-04-30T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan17/index.html#20210430","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["video","first-instance"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"At the very beginning of the court session, Anastasia Guzeva explains to the court the meaning of the name of God \"Jehovah\". All participants in the process listen attentively.\nThe court is reviewing the video materials of the case. Prosecution witness Zvereva, who conducted operational-search activities together with the FSB, is being interrogated. She describes Guzeva \"as a participant [of worship], but not as active.\" The witness also confirms that she did not hear any extremist statements from the defendant.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Guzeva in Birobidzhan","date":"2021-04-19T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/birobidzhan16/index.html#20210419","regions":["jewish"],"tags":["interrogation","video"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"\"To evict forever.\" The government's order for the largest religious deportation in the USSR, which commenced in April of 1951, changed the lives of thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses forever. Men and women, the elderly and babies - about 10,000 individuals - were loaded onto freight trains and transported in inhumane conditions from the western regions of the country to the north without the right to return. They were deprived of their homes, property, and some even their lives for their faith in God, because it did not fit into the framework of Soviet ideology.\nWhat did believers have to endure and what are the parallels with the events in modern Russia? The victims of the tragedy and experts talk about this in a video prepared for the 70th anniversary of the special operation, codenamed \"North\".\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2021-04-07T13:05:00+03:00","duration":"9:26","image":{"jpg":"/news/2021/04/9/9_hu_9c160327734f0ab.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2021/04/9/9_hu_ed1834f429f10400.jpg","webp":"/news/2021/04/9/9_hu_b61835accb799031.webp","webp2x":"/news/2021/04/9/9_hu_ce05a22793d83f3d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2021/04/9.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["1951deport","ussr","video","expert-comments","expert-conclusions","deportation"],"title":"70 years of Operation North - eyewitnesses and experts discuss the mass deportation of Jehovah's Witnesses in the USSR","type":"video"},{"body":"On September 2, 2020, the 14-month court proceedings against Jehovah’s Witnesses Sergey Britvin and Vadim Levchuk in the town of Beryozovsky came to a conclusion. The court convicted them and sentenced them to imprisonment in the penal colony with some additional restrictions. They had already spent 520 days in pre-trial detention and 250 days under house arrest.\nBoth of the Witnesses are family men. At the time of the arrest of 48-year-old Vadim Levchuk, his son was still a minor. Sergey Britvin is 55 and registered as Category 2 disabled. In the past, before their criminal investigation, they both worked in mining enterprises. Levchuk worked in a mine, and Britvin worked as a driver of a heavy transport vehicle. Their lives changed completely in July 2018, when a wave of home searches of Jehovah’s Witnesses was carried out in their town. During the raids, one woman was injured by broken glass. Two days later the Tsentralniy District Court of Kemerovo ruled to place Britvin and Levchuk in pre-trial detention. They spent time in SIZO-1 in Kemerovo and SIZO-4 in Anzhero-Sudzhensk.\nThe investigation was conducted by the Investigative Department of the Kemerovo Regional Headquarters of the FSB. They were unable to find a single victim or anyone who had suffered harm as a result of the activity of the accused. The investigators consider that they organized the activity of an extremist organization (Article 282.2(1) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code) merely for discussing spiritual subjects with their friends. At the core of the criminal case lies evidence given by a “secret witness” whose name has not been revealed by the prosecution. As a result of this, the Witnesses have been unable to exercise their right to defend themselves against the charges (impossibility to ask a witness more specific questions, impossibility to see his reaction and make sure that he answers not according to others' instructions). The state prosecutor recommended that the court sentence both men to 6.5 years in prison. They refused to plead guilty and insist that just practicing their religion is not forbidden by the law.\nAfter they spend 4 years in the colony, they will be forbidden to hold certain positions for another 3 years, and they will also be subject to 1 year of restrictions.\nOf the 18 months they spent in pre-trial detention, the last 6 months were unlawful. This fact was belatedly admitted by the Eighth Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in December 2019, two months after the newly-formed cassation court system began to operate in Russia.\nFrom the court’s decision it is clear that the law-enforcement agencies and the courts of Kemerovo Region remain convinced that citizens of the region cannot profess the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses, despite the fact that Article 28 of the Russian Federation Constitution guarantees this right. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia insist that they have nothing in common with extremism. The Russian government confirmed that the decisions of Russian courts to liquidate and ban the activity of their organizations “did not give an appraisal of the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and do not contain any restrictions or bans on the individual profession of the teaching indicated above.”\nThe court's decision has not entered into force. Believers will appeal against it.\nUpdate. After the verdict, Britvin and Levchuk were taken into custody in the courtroom — watch the 25-second video. They are transferred to the pre-trial detention center in the city of Anzhero-Sudzhensk ","category":"verdict","date":"2020-09-02T16:27:00+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/09/2/image_hu_6a8424eaaadfd1dd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/09/2/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/09/2/image_hu_581e18408dda9f51.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/09/2/image_hu_699d32ea9e4c914.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/09/2.html","regions":["kemerovo"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["sentence","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","video"],"title":"The First Convictions in Kemerovo Region Have Been Handed Down to Two of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Both Were Sentenced to an Imprisonment for Four Years","type":"news"},{"body":"There are more than 30 listeners in the hall of the Berezovsky City Court. Sergey Britvin addresses the court with the last word of the defendant. Following him, Vadim Levchuk speaks with the last word . The court retires to the deliberation room. Judge Irina Vorobyova announces the verdict: to find them guilty and sentence them to 4 years in prison in a penal colony. In addition, they will be subject to another 1 year of restriction of freedom and they will be banned from holding certain positions for another 3 years. The court's decision has not entered into force. Believers will appeal against it.\n","caseTitle":"Case of Levchuk and Britvin in Beryozovsky","date":"2020-09-02T00:00:00Z","permalink":"/en/cases/beryozovsky2/index.html#20200902","regions":["kemerovo"],"tags":["final-statement","sentence","courtroom","liberty-deprivation","282.2-1","video"],"type":"timeline"},{"body":"In Krasnoyarsk, District Court has begun consideration of the criminal case against Andrey Stupnikov, a peaceful believer accused of extremism. Who he is and why he is being tried, is described in a 4-minute video.\nViktor Shipilov, Attorney: He is accused of committing a crime stipulated by Article 282.2(1) of the Criminal Code—for organizing the activity of an organization that has been liquidated by a court decision for carrying out so-called extremist activity. Andrey Stupnikov was never one of the founding members of such organizations and was never a member of one of their supervising organs. No one has been banned from having religious beliefs, a fact that was emphasized by the court that ruled to liquidate legal entities [of Jehovah’s Witnesses]. But when we open the bill of charges we read the following: “Andrey Stupnikov took steps to preserve and increase the number of followers of the given religious teaching.” But a religion cannot exist without followers that profess certain beliefs.\nAndrey and Olga have been married for 27 years. According to them, it was knowledge of the Bible that made their marriage strong and happy. However, on 3 July 2018 their happy family life was disrupted when Andrey was detained by security forces.\nAndrey Stupnikov: My wife and I arrived at the airport at 4:00 in the morning. When we were at the check-in counter, the FSB approached us. We were told that I was under investigation.\nAfter that he was interrogated by the FSB, had court hearings on preventive measures and spent eight months in pre-trial detention. Andrey was not allowed to see his wife. They threatened him, trying to force him into testifying against himself.\nAndrey Stupnikov: They shouted and threatened that they could, for example, increase the severity of the charges to terrorism. After this, the situation worsened; for some time I stopped receiving letters from my wife. But I received other letters. Then a man would come and ask me: \"So what happened to your wife, do you know?\" Later I realised why this was happening. They told me that if I agreed to cooperate or admit my guilt, I could return to my wife very soon.\nAndrey acknowledges that the presence of hundreds of fellow believers who came to encourage him was of great support to him. For anyone who discerns what is happening, it is obvious that law enforcement agencies have taken it to the extreme by labelling peaceful law-abiding citizens as extremists.\nViktor Shipilov, attorney: It is clear that Andrey Stupnikov did not carry out any extremist activities. He did not incite anyone to violence or discrimination, and he never employed violent means himself. All he did was meet with fellow-worshippers, participate in religious services, and share his religious views with others. Why are such peaceable individuals being framed as criminals and imprisoned for six years? There are many opinions on that question, one of which is that they are an easy target for law-enforcement officers, who have quotas to meet in their battle with extremism.\nAt present, Andrey is free. His current preventive measure prohibits certain actions. And although Andrey’s life has changed a lot in the past year, he admits that persecution will not force him to renounce his faith in God.\nAndrey Stupnikov: Reflecting on my life since I dedicated myself to God, I wouldn’t change anything. Not one person can say that I’ve ruined their life or done anything bad to them. I’m proud to know Jehovah and to have him by my side.\nThe judicial proceedings against Andrey Stupnikov are in full swing, and we will likely find out very soon if the judge will render a fair and independent decision—acquitting an ordinary believer.\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2020-08-24T14:32:00+03:00","duration":"4:18","image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/08/7/7_2_hu_c0670e791924a588.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/08/7/7_2.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/08/7/7_2_hu_b26baf6ca8adf60b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/08/7/7_2_hu_f75b3abbc83123f1.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/08/7.html","regions":["krasnoyarsk"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","first-instance","video","prohibition-of-actions","282.2-1"],"title":"Why are peace-loving individuals being framed as criminals? An engineer is being tried for his faith in the city of Krasnoyarsk","type":"video"},{"body":"In February 2020, five believers who were sent to a penal colony by a Saratov court were severely beaten by guards. One of them, Felix Makhammadiyev, had a broken rib, lung and kidney damaged. What preceded these events? What believers and their families went through is described in a 4-minute video.\n\"We were approaching the car, the road was blocked by a tinted jeep, several people in balaclavas with machine guns jumped out of there and, shouting 'Stop!' twisted their arms and laid them on the hood of my car\" – this is how Felix Makhammadiev described his detention back in July 2019. The interview was recorded after Felix was released after 11 months in jail. At that time, no one knew that just two months later the court would find him guilty of organizing extremist activities and send him back to jail along with his fellow believers.\n\"I got it because I smiled\"\nIn December 2019, the Saratov Regional Court rejected the believers' appeal and upheld the verdict. In early February, five of the six convicted Jehovah's Witnesses were transferred to Correctional Colony No. 1 in Orenburg, and on February 6, upon arrival, they were all beaten by prison staff.\n\"They squatted down and started beating them with truncheons, hands and feet. Felix got the most, most likely due to the fact that he smiled there at the entrance, because he is smiling, \"says Evgenia Lagunova, wife of Felix Mahammadiev, about those events.\nAfter the beatings, doctors diagnosed Felix Mahammadiev with a broken rib, lung and kidney damage.\nA pre-trial detention center and a colony for a hardworking family man\nAlexey and Tatyana Budenchuk have two minor children. Their whole family lives in a small private house, and the main income comes from the household. But on June 12, 2018, their lives changed dramatically. A group of armed law enforcement officers came to their home.\n\"I saw a masked man in uniform entering the garage. A few seconds later he went up the stairs, put me on the floor, handcuffed me.\"\nOleksiy Budenchuk tells about his detention.\nAccording to his son Yegor, the security forces detained both parents at that time: \"Mom and dad were taken away. I was worried that it might happen that I wouldn't see them again.\"\nAs a result, Tatyana was released, and two days later, by a court decision, Aleksey was placed in a pre-trial detention center together with Konstantin Bazhenov and Felix Makhammadiev. Three more believers were chosen as a measure of restraint in the form of a written undertaking not to leave.\n\"In total, I stayed in the pre-trial detention center for 11 months and 8 days. On May 20, 2019, we were released from there under another measure of restraint - a ban on certain actions, \"recalls Alexei Budenchuk.\n\"There are no victims, there is no damage\"\nIn July 2019, the consideration of the merits of the criminal case against the believers began. Lawyer Viktor Shipilov draws attention to the groundlessness of the accusation.\n\"Even if you read the indictment, it directly says: 'There are no victims, no damage has been caused to anyone.' A person should know what he is accused of, when he did something, where he did something. It begins with the fact that at an unspecified time, in an unidentified place, after a certain date, there was an intention to create an organization whose activities are prohibited, \"says defender Shipilov.\nAs a result, all six believers were found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of two to three and a half years.\nThis court decision was a test for the relatives and friends of the convicts. Their wives declare that they will continue to support their husbands and will never give up their faith in God.\nIn July 2019, Felix Makhammadiev and Alexei Budenchuk shared in an interview that the criminal prosecution did not embitter them, and they see the difficulties they may still face as an opportunity to prove their devotion to God.\n\"There came a moment when it seemed: well, that's it, I can't stand it anymore. But I prayed to Jehovah every day that he would give me peace and joy for this day,\" Felix Makhammadiev said at the time.\nAccording to Felix's wife Eugenia, he does not lose heart. \"I'm very proud of him! Not only did he meet this test with dignity, he carries it with dignity, and he helps me to hold on with dignity, \"she says.\nIn connection with the beating of believers in Orenburg Penal Colony No. 1, complaints were filed with the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia Tatyana Moskalkova, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov, the Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and dozens of other bodies.\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2020-03-20T13:19:07+03:00","duration":"4:47","image":{"jpg":"/news/2020/03/38/image_hu_50ec648113737715.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2020/03/38/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2020/03/38/image_hu_509dcf65b1379138.webp","webp2x":"/news/2020/03/38/image_hu_aa39bc74c7624ec6.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2020/03/38.html","regions":["saratov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["liberty-deprivation","siloviks-violence","health-risk","review","hatred-attacks","life-in-prison","video"],"title":"The beating in the Orenburg colony did not break the believers and their families in Saratov","type":"video"},{"body":"The corresponding decision was made by the Kaluga District Court on December 24, 2019. At the exit from the court, the believer was greeted by about 40 people (a short video is published).\nThe decision to soften the measure of restraint of Dmitry Kuzin was made by judge Olga Alabugina. The court pointed out that, given the state of health of Dmitry Kuzin, he has the right to be under house arrest in a medical institution. Kuzin will have to spend 2 months under house arrest, until February 23, 2020 inclusive. Among other things, he is forbidden to leave his place of residence (except for short walks), receive and send letters, use the telephone and the Internet, as well as communicate with witnesses and other participants in the criminal case.\nInvestigator E. Pavshenko petitioned for the extension of Kuzin's detention, but the court rejected the prosecutor's request.\n","category":"restriction","date":"2019-12-25T17:29:14+03:00","duration":null,"image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/12/1500/kuzin_hu_30f53ff77563c55f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/12/1500/kuzin.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/12/1500/kuzin_hu_47d6051f6b422b7f.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/12/1500/kuzin_hu_8f43ee97bf3d7f27.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/12/1500.html","regions":["kaluga"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["house-arrest","video"],"title":"In Kaluga, believer Dmitry Kuzin was released under house arrest after six months in a pre-trial detention center    ","type":"news"},{"body":"For almost six months, peaceful Kaluga residents have been languishing in a pre-trial detention center. How did the FSB act against obviously innocent people? What was thrown under the bed of 15-year-old Dasha Makhneva? How many masked armed security forces were thrown against 87-year-old Olga Verevkina? A 5-minute video about what is happening in Kaluga.\nOn June 26, 2019, mass searches were conducted in the homes of peaceful believers in Kaluga. Two Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Makhnev and Dmitry Kuzin, were arrested simply because of their religion.\nAddressing via video link from the pre-trial detention center, Roman Makhnev says: \"The court did not properly consider the measure of restraint against me. There was no evidence that I should have been detained.\"\nHis wife, Anna Makhneva, recalls: \"I heard a noise in the street. When I came out, I saw two masked people in the courtyard of the house. I took the keys to the gate, opened the doors. A few more people were standing on the doorstep. My daughter came out, she was barefoot, and she was placed next to me on the paving slabs in the yard. It was drizzling. I asked permission to put on the child's shoes. He said, 'Later.'\"\nAnton Omelchenko, Roman Makhnev's lawyer: \"The believer, Roman Makhnev, was handcuffed, despite the fact that he did not resist and did not show himself in any bad way.\"\nAt the same time, another group of security officials broke into the apartment of Dmitry and Svetlana Kuzin. Here is what Svetlana Kuzina had to experience: \"I was in this room, at home, watering flowers. And I hear my husband open the door with his keys. And I go out, and then there are a lot of people. My husband was knocked down when he entered, apparently, he was knocked down on the tiles, face down. His hands were handcuffed from behind.\"\nAnother group of armed law enforcement officers invaded the home of 87-year-old Olga Verevkina. She says: \"A full brigade in camouflage of militants. The ruling was not shown. They say, \"Get up!\" and I say, \"I can't, I'm weak.\" My blood pressure rose from 200 to 115.\nAccording to believers, during the searches publications from the Federal List of Extremist Materials were planted on them, and their rights were violated. Roman Makhnev's wife, Anna, says: \"I heard Dasha screaming: 'This was not in my room, what is it doing here, explain to me!' And I heard her husband's voice saying, 'This is a toss.'\" Daria Makhneva, the daughter of Roman and Anna, says: \"Just that day in the afternoon I was vacuuming under the bed, there was nothing lying there.\"\n\"No one introduced themselves to us, they didn't show us any documents. The search began at 9 p.m. and lasted until about half past five in the morning,\" says Svetlana Kuzina.\nOlga Verevkina: \"To break into the camouflage of militants in such a way to old, infirm people - it amazes me!\"\nAnton Omelchenko: \"If our law enforcement officers, in order to come to an elderly woman, gather a crowd, put on masks, take weapons with them, then what cowards they are! Such people say that they are actually fighting extremism.\"\nAfter the searches, Roman Makhnev and Dmitry Kuzin were taken to the FSB building. \"When my dad was taken away, the only thing I managed to say in his ear was that I was proud of his resilience,\" says Daria Makhneva, \"And then he was taken away, and I felt sad. I was scared.\"\nAnna Makhneva: \"Roman, when he was brought to the FSB building, was handcuffed to a battery in some utility room, and remained so until the morning, until he was summoned for interrogation.\"\nIt is worth noting that a few hours earlier, during the searches, an ambulance was called for Roman Makhnev. \"Roman became very ill,\" says his wife.- Dasha began to scream. An ambulance was called by FSB officers, she arrived quickly enough. They gave him medicine, after a while Roman felt better. He was detained on the 26th, he was fed only on the 29th!\nAnton Omelchenko: \"Roman Makhnev was not fed for three days. They said, \"Well, he had the opportunity to eat what he brought with him.\" Interesting position. I have filed complaints with various departments.\"\nOn June 28, two days after the arrest, the Kaluga District Court sent Roman Makhnev and Dmitry Kuzin to a pre-trial detention center.\nRoman Makhnev: \"I have never called for religious discord. Always, on the contrary, encouraged love and good deeds. But now we will continue to fight, we will file a cassation appeal.\" His daughter, Daria, says: \"I hope that people will understand that my dad is not guilty of anything, and he is not a criminal. Therefore, I hope that soon we will meet with him and be together again.\nBelievers do not agree with the accusations and intend to seek justice.\nSvetlana Kuzina: \"I don't know if we can. But I am determined to fight to the end in order to help my husband, to support him.\" Anna Makhneva: \"I very much hope that common sense will prevail, and the people in power will finally understand that we do not pose any threat to society and even more so to the state.\"\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2019-12-06T15:00:07+03:00","duration":"4:59","image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/12/1456/kaluga_02_hu_a0ac6580f2d5913f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/12/1456/kaluga_02.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/12/1456/kaluga_02_hu_cf459ffb0df3dd48.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/12/1456/kaluga_02_hu_168e286783a73070.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/12/1456.html","regions":["kaluga"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","video","plant","minors","elderly","siloviks-violence"],"title":"\"I managed to tell my dad in his ear that I was proud of his resilience.\" The life of believers in Kaluga was divided into before and after ","type":"video"},{"body":"Six years in prison was the verdict of the Oryol District Court in the case against a 46-year-old local resident, a Danish by nationality, who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The verdict caused a wide public outcry. The history of criminal prosecution for faith is in an 11-minute video report.\nIrina Christensen puts together a program for her husband, Dennis Christensen. Almost two years have passed since he was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention center in the city of Orel. \"I can give thirty kilograms a month,\" she says, \"Well, I bring what he orders. He loves marzipan very much, I'll bring him candy with marzipan.\nIt all started on May 25, 2017, when armed masked men burst into the service. \"Of course, we didn't know what to do, what to do, because everyone wanted to shoot, record it all, but it was forbidden. Dennis was arrested right at the worship service.\"\nThe very next day, a preventive measure in the form of detention was chosen against Dennis Christensen.\n\"Investigative measures were quite intensive,\" recalls lawyer Anton Bogdanov.- For example, as many as 13 forensic examinations were appointed by the investigator himself. Several handwriting examinations, religious, linguistic, and, oddly enough, psychological and psychiatric. In addition, there were, of course, interrogations. I think about a hundred people were interrogated. The main bet was to do everything quickly and as toughly as possible.\nAt the end of February 2018, 9 months after his arrest, court proceedings began. Dozens of believers came to the hearing in the building of the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of the city of Oryol to support Dennis Christensen and his wife. \"Last year, of course, 3 times a week I see my husband in court,\" admits Irina Christensen.\n\"In court hearings, thanks to his actions, such a positive, and somewhere even cheerful atmosphere reigned,\" says Anton Bogdanov.\n\"He showed children's drawings that were sent to him from all over the world,\" says lawyer Irina Krasnikova.- He gladly received greetings that his friends conveyed to him. It was evident that he was very happy with those who came to him.\n\"A lot of the Bible was read, just excerpts, verses from the Bible, whole paragraphs from books we read,\" says Irina Christensen. We watched different videos, we studied the entire \"Yearbook\" for 2017, we studied all the \"Workbooks\" for 2017. Everything that the prosecutor's office provided, we read it all, how songs were sung at the meeting, and in general it was some kind of ridiculous action, to be honest.\nIrina Krasnikova: \"This situation seems somewhat paradoxical. It seems that a person is accused of extremism, but it turns out that no hostility comes from him, even to those who unfairly accuse him.\nThe trial, which lasted almost a year, left no doubt that Dennis Christensen did not commit any crime.\nAnton Bogdanov: \"The fact is that our position and, above all, Christensen's position was to prove his innocence. Well, it was obvious, in fact, that the person is innocent, but, nevertheless, since we are in court, we need to defend our position, we need to present evidence.\nIrina Krasnikova: \"In general, in order to deal with such cases, you need to understand what the essence of a person's religious beliefs is, and why he acts in one way or another. Why does he come to worship? Because he considers himself a member of some legal entity? Or because he believes that this is a way for him to exercise his right to freedom of religion?\"\nAnton Bogdanov: \"When a crime where the punishment is 10 years of freedom in its maximum terms, they begin to establish who organized the cleaning, who bought the mop and rags for this cleaning, why Christensen was the first to open the gate and began to remove the snow, this is, of course, surprising.\"\nFebruary 6, 2019. Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Orel. \"The court sentenced Christensen Dennis Ole to be found guilty of committing a crime under part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and to sentence him to 6 years in prison to be served in a penal colony.\"\nIrina Christensen: \"Well, of course, it was surprising that such a large number of people came to the announcement of the verdict. And I know that many came from different cities: Moscow, Belgorod, Kursk, Kaluga, Yelets. But that's just a few I've met... I want to say that my husband did not deserve such a sentence, because he is a wonderful person, and he spent his life helping people, and not doing harm to someone and encouraging someone to violence.\nAnton Bogdanov: \"The court has not been able to name a single specific socially dangerous, in the true sense of the word, action that would have been taken by the defendant.\"\nIrina Krasnikova: \"In my opinion, this verdict does not correspond to the inner conviction of the judge, because for any sane person, and even more so for a person who understood the essence of this case, it is obvious and understandable that there was no extremist organization here, that there were no extremists here. And, of course, it is very scary that such a punishment is given to a person simply for what he believes, it is very cruel.\nAnton Bogdanov: \"That is, all this looks more like a reprisal against a believer belonging to a minority religion.\"\nThe unprecedented sentence handed down to Dennis Christensen caused a wide public outcry. Russian and international organizations called on the Russian authorities to release the believer and drop all charges against him. Human rights activists, in turn, call the court's decision unfair and monstrous.\nHuman rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina (Civic Assistance Committee): \"The assessment is very simple – it's monstrous, it's just monstrous. The fact that people are condemned not for anything, not for what they have done, but for involvement, for beliefs, is, of course, absolutely monstrous.\nValery Borshchev (Moscow Helsinki Group): \"It seems to me that the court found itself in a difficult situation, because it could not present any extremism. Well, there is none, no, absolutely.\nReligious scholar Roman Lunkin (Center for the Study of Problems of Religion and Society of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences): \"This is, of course, a shame for relations between the state and religion in Russia, for religious policy. We believe that Russia is a country of faith, and even more religious than European countries. How does the persecution of believers take place in such a country? How?\"\nHuman rights activist Lev Ponomarev (movement \"For Human Rights\"): \"As I see it, people who sincerely believe should have the right to do this. And obviously, they cannot be prosecuted for this. This is one of the basic constitutional human rights.\"\nValery Borshchev: \"And I believe that he won the trial. He won, he was much more convincing in court and looked better than the judge and the prosecutor. In my opinion, the judge himself also felt this. And, in general, every religion is strengthened as a result of persecution, as you know. Those who keep the faith, and there are undoubtedly many who will, they will be firm, and they will stand up for their faith even more.\"\nHuman rights activists, lawyers and participants in the trial also spoke about this at a press conference held in Moscow two days after the verdict was announced.\nValery Borshchev: \"Dennis made a very interesting decision at the trial - he turned the last word into a sermon. And what happens? It turns out that all 50 people present at the trial, including the prosecutor, the judge, me and the media, were participants in a religious meeting.\"\nYaroslav Sivulsky (European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses): \"I can only say that Jehovah's Witnesses did not deserve such treatment. Nothing they do deserves to be jailed or charged with extremism.\"\nIrina Christensen: \"My husband, of course, is a strong man, and he will endure everything. And his faith in God is strong, and our God will support him and will always help him, just as he has been supporting me for almost two years... The press conference in Moscow is just an amazing event that happened recently, and I could never imagine myself among these people, respected by everyone. After the press conference, each of them said something nice to me: words of support, encouragement, told a little bit of their life stories about the fact that they also underwent a lot, understand me and my feelings. It was very nice.\"\nIrina says that she and her husband have been greatly supported by the thousands of letters, postcards and drawings they receive from all over the world: \"He had such a plan that every child's drawing should hang on his wall. From transparent plastic files, he sewed them with threads and made such a well, like a stand or something, so that there were several drawings, immediately hung. And when a child's drawing comes, he inserts it and at least one day this drawing should hang with him. And when the evening check comes, they, he says, every time they look at these new children's drawings. And he says, \"I want to tell these kids later that your drawing was in jail and it was hanging on the wall.\" Well, the number of letters that he receives, this, of course, shocks everyone in the pre-trial detention center, because they say: \"As much as you receive, well, no one receives.\"\nAccording to Irina, Dennis writes her several letters every week, in each of which he finds words to support her and share encouraging thoughts. Here is an excerpt from one of the letters: \"Positive emotions are the key to success, and today we have a lot of reasons to rejoice! Is it not an honor for each of us to illuminate Jehovah's name in our city? Justifying God's great sovereignty is not the purpose of our existence? I know that our path is long, and there will be no victory yet, but for now! In the end, we will win. I'm 100% sure of that.\"\nIrina very much hopes that the court of appeal will release her husband from custody. But, she said, whatever the outcome, she will continue to support Dennis. \"If he was there because he killed someone or raped someone or robbed them, that's one thing. And the fact that a person is in jail for his faith is another. And he sits with a clear conscience, he sits with good thoughts, because he has done no harm to anyone. Therefore, I have always been proud and proud of my husband. And I understand what an honor it is to endure all this with dignity, calmly, confidently... Jesus Christ said that all of his followers would be persecuted, so of course what is happening now is not surprising, it should have been. And with the help of the power of God, you can withstand any test at all, absolutely any, whatever it may be.\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2019-04-04T17:26:42+03:00","duration":"11:20","image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/04/719/kristensen2474_0_hu_4a3d878d95594301.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/04/719/kristensen2474_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/04/719/kristensen2474_0_hu_1e1fc7b95c347300.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/04/719/kristensen2474_0_hu_6a55aee6b072ce.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/04/719.html","regions":["oryol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","liberty-deprivation","review","human-rights-defenders"],"title":"The Christensen case. A faith that is higher than prison walls","type":"video"},{"body":"On October 9, 2018, searches were conducted in several homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in Kirov. As a result, 5 people were arrested, including a Polish citizen. Their families tell the details of what happened and how they live now.\nNina Korobeynikova, a resident of Kirov, who has a disability, draws a postcard for her father Vladimir. For two months now, he and four other Jehovah's Witnesses have been in pre-trial detention. \"When I was little, my dad was my best friend,\" says Nina. We played together, talked, went fishing. And all my life I've always lived with my parents, and my dad was always there.\"\nGalina Khalturina, Maksim Khalturin's mother, recalls the details of that October morning when the raids took place. \"We were still sleeping, but Maxim was in the kitchen, he had breakfast, he goes to work early.- Then my husband and I woke up, I went out into the corridor and saw a lot of people. Maxim is facing the wall. Legs and arms are wide apart.\"\nAnd here is what happened in the house of Vladimir Korobeynikov. Says his wife Olga, who, due to illness, practically does not get out of bed: \"I tried to wake Volodya up, he quickly got up, approached, he was told: \"Open the door, we want to talk to you about God.\" And he said, \"I won't open it for you, and if you don't leave now, I'll just call the police.\" Well, that's when they say, \"We're already here.\" And they showed their crusts.\n\"We quickly got dressed, opened the door, and in a second the apartment was filled with men in black,\" says Svetlana, the wife of Yevgeny Suvorkov, \"I was just shocked. They flew into the apartment in an instant.\" Her relative Svetlana, the wife of Andrey Suvorkov, says: \"They behaved busily, they felt like masters in our apartment. This, too, of course, was unpleasant.\nAnna, who is married to Polish citizen Andrzej Oniszczuk, shares her feelings: \"For me, it was just a humiliation when people come to you and walk through your clean linen with dirty boots. When they start opening things, look in. They also look at us in such a way that we may have something wrong there. Yes, it was a shame, a humiliation, I was embarrassed in front of my neighbors, because they know us ... To be honest, I still try to put everything together in such a way that if they come again, I won't be ashamed.\"\nAs a result, 50-year-old Andrzej Oniszczuk, 65-year-old Vladimir Korobeynikov, 25-year-old Andrey Suvorkov, 40-year-old Yevgeny Suvorkov and 44-year-old Maxim Khalturin were sent to a pre-trial detention center. They are accused of organizing and financing extremist activities simply because of their religion.\n\"The exact time, 8:39, I remembered for the rest of my life,\" says the mother of Maxim Khalturin.- This is probably a long time I will not forget. At that time, Maksim was taken away from the apartment.\" \"I hoped that he would leave for two hours,\" admits Olga Korobeynikova.- But by the evening I already realized that he would not return. Not today, most likely, not tomorrow.\" \"When he left, it was like we said goodbye to him for two hours. He himself probably did not expect such a turn, \"says the wife of Andrei Suvorkov. \"When I began to collect food, the operative advised me to collect things,\" says Anna Onischuk.- And the investigator said: \"He doesn't need to collect anything, maybe I'll let him go today.\" The implication was that if he cooperated, I might let him go.\"\nUnfortunately, when deciding on the measure of restraint, the court did not take into account the difficult family situations of the accused. In particular, Maxim Khalturin's elderly parents have serious health problems. His father is completely dependent on his son's support and care. \"It's very hard for me without him. After all, I take care of my husband alone. And I'm 81 years old,\" says Galina Khalturina.- My husband lost his speech and the right side. He couldn't talk, so these facial expressions, these tongue twisters, it had a very big effect on him and on his speech. And at least now he speaks a little, slowly. It's all the merit that Maxim helped him a lot.\"\nThe situation in the family of Vladimir Korobeynikov is no less difficult. His wife practically does not get up, and his daughter Nina is not able to provide her with the necessary support, since she herself is a disabled person of group I. She says: \"Sometimes mom needs immediate medical attention, and usually dad would call an ambulance and accompany her in the car, because only he knows in what position you can put it, how to lift it.\" Here is how his lawyer, Yegiazar Chernikov, comments on the situation: \"The court's decision looks blasphemous from the point of view of human relations, since the court's decision contradicts the basic principles of mercy in the administration of justice. It breaks my heart to see the situation of their families.\" \"When you see a 66-year-old pensioner who has lived a well-deserved life, or a middle-aged man who has sick relatives, of course, it causes only human sympathy,\" says Yevgeny Kokoulin, deputy chairman of the Vyatka Committee on Human Rights.\nRelatives of prisoners share that the incident seriously affected their own physical and emotional state. \"I couldn't sleep and eat for the first week at all,\" says Olga Korobeynikova.- When I just wake up, it's just pain. When no one is at home, no one at all, I allow myself to cry loudly, to pray out loud. Well, that is, this is no longer a prayer, this is a cry, this is a supplication. Andrey Suvorkov's wife Svetlana shares: \"I constantly think about Andrey, I constantly think about how he is now, what is happening to him, what he feels. I miss him very much, and I think he misses me too.\" Maksim Khalturin's mother Galina: \"I miss him very much. It's so hard for me without him! I don't know how I can wait for it? Valery Petrovich also misses his son. And when they took him away, he also had tears on his face.\"\nThe wives and close relatives of five imprisoned believers try to support each other. They get together, read letters from the pre-trial detention center, discuss the life of prisoners and share the latest news from behind barbed wire.\n\"I walk around the cell a lot, I can walk six steps, then back. You know, I love walking. I refuse to walk only in severe rain. I really like to walk, there is a larger area, you can walk in circles, and look at the sky through the lattice, breathe fresh air\" (from a letter from Yevgeny Suvorkov).\n\"Today they brought 60 letters, more than a kilogram. Letters, of course, have come before, but so many at once, for the first time\" (from a letter from Maxim Khalturin).\n\"How I miss you! Previously, it was enough for me to be aware that you were in the next room, and I could approach you at any time. And now I just need to get at least some news from you like air!\" (from a letter from Vladimir Korobeynikov).\n\"Life gives each of us black and white sketches, and they are not always beautiful. But we have felt-tip pens of all colors, and it's up to us to decide which ones to use. But how much wiser it is to paint life with bright colored felt-tip pens, then you will find a joyful heart. Look around, what colors the joyful God uses\" (from a letter from Andrei Suvorkov).\nThese women very much hope that law enforcement officers will come to their senses and stop the senseless persecution of their husbands, fathers and sons. Moreover, quite recently, the president of the country promised to look into this issue.\n\"And it is necessary, of course, to do what you propose - to analyze law enforcement practice. And if necessary, make some adjustments. [...] Jehovah's Witnesses are also Christians, and I also don't really understand why they should be persecuted. Therefore, we just need to analyze, we need to do it. I will talk to Vyacheslav Mikhailovich [Lebedev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation], and try to do it\" (from the transcript of Vladimir Putin's speech at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights on December 11, 2018).\n\"I imagine that we will meet at home,\" says Nina Korobeynikova.- Mom will be able to get up for a while, all three of us will hug, and we will all cry.\nFortunately, this meeting did not have to wait long. On December 20, the Kirov Regional Court considered the believers' appeal and placed one of them, Vladimir Korobeynikov, under house arrest.\nFour more believers from Kirov still remain in the pre-trial detention center.\nAs of January 1, 2019, 25 Jehovah's Witnesses were detained in Russia.\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2019-01-11T14:50:09+03:00","duration":"10:01","image":{"jpg":"/news/2019/01/561/kirov-01_0_hu_2a68c10b69a16aa0.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2019/01/561/kirov-01_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2019/01/561/kirov-01_0_hu_a4a519f66099ecc4.webp","webp2x":"/news/2019/01/561/kirov-01_0_hu_f03714e1669e58d7.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2019/01/561.html","regions":["kirov"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","ivs","elderly","disability","families","video"],"title":"Ruthless Searches and Arrests of Believers in Kirov","type":"video"},{"body":"During the FSB's November operation against Jehovah's Witnesses, 78-year-old Alexandr Ursu, who has a certificate of rehabilitation as a victim of political repression, was knocked down. In a 3-minute interview, he talks about the tragic events of the past, which are repeated in the present.\nAlexandru Ursu: \"It was July 6, 1949. I was nine and a half. It was still dark in the morning when we were woken up. When we broke in, we saw that they were military men. They came in and read out that they were evicting them to an eternal settlement. Two soldiers began to tear things from the walls that were on the walls, and put them together: take it, because it will be useful to you with you.\nWhile others were brought and put in a wagon, relatives from our village brought us something from food. Because there was almost nothing to take with us, we did not know that we would be evicted. There was no warning, it was all sudden.\nThere were already bunks in two floors in the car. We were accommodated on the ground floor. There is another family above, there were two old ones traveling with us. On the contrary, the other two families were in this car, it was a two-axle car. They had just had a little child, two or three months old. And most of it... There were cries because it was very hot. And the heat became when we were kept for hours somewhere on a station or in the steppe. And the air came only through a small window, through which even my head could hardly crawl to look. Then the brothers made a toilet. They cut a hole in the floor and made a screen so that they could go to the toilet.\nThere was always hunger. All the time - hunger and hunger.\nWe were taken to the border of the Kurgan and Tyumen regions. To the dead end, to the wilderness...\"\nNovember 15, 2018, Dzhankoy. The FSB, with the support of riot police, carried out brutal incursions into the homes of citizens suspected of practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. A criminal case has been opened under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.\nFSB officer: \"You don't need to shoot.\"\nUnknown voice: \"What's going on, please tell me?\"\nFSB officer: \"Some organization banned in Russia, sectarians. Investigative actions are underway, so please do not interfere.\"\nAs of November 19, 2018, 93 people across Russia are subjected to various forms of criminal prosecution on suspicion of professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. 47 people (including 2 EU citizens) were taken into custody. 25 people (including 3 women) remain in the pre-trial detention center. 23 people are under house arrest. More than 35 people are under recognizance not to leave. Most face 6 to 10 years in prison.\nPunitive authorities in modern Russia consider any worship of Jehovah as participation in the activities of an \"extremist organization\" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to liquidate all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses), while the Russian government officially declares that the decision of the Supreme Court \"does not contain a restriction or prohibition to practice the above teachings individually.\" \"There is a contradiction between the declared position of the Government of the Russian Federation and law enforcement practice. This cannot but cause concern, since criminal prosecutions and arrests have become systemic,\" the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights said in a statement .\n","category":"eyewitnesses","date":"2018-11-19T16:30:24+03:00","duration":"2:51","image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/11/518/dzhankoy_ursu_0_hu_1c923e3073ba4c51.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/11/518/dzhankoy_ursu_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/11/518/dzhankoy_ursu_0_hu_337acac03a7a655d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/11/518/dzhankoy_ursu_0_hu_d6549084f3c55e90.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/11/518.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","elderly","siloviks-violence","deportation","ussr"],"title":"Crimea: the rehabilitated is again subjected to repression (video)","type":"video"},{"body":"It took the Russian authorities 9 years to implement the cunning plan. The chronology of the main stages, as well as the statements of analysts, are given in a 7-minute video.\nVideo footage of raids on peaceful Jehovah's Witnesses is shocking. How did law-abiding Jehovah's Witnesses become \"extremists\" in Russia?\nDecember 2009: The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation declared 34 publications of Jehovah's Witnesses \"extremist\"; LRO of Jehovah's Witnesses \"Taganrog\" was liquidated\nAugust 2011: a criminal case under the article \"extremism\" was initiated against 16 Taganrog residents.\nApril 2013: Searches at the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia\nFebruary 2014: the beginning of systematic planting of \"extremist\" materials to believers, followed by searches.\nApril 2015: Jehovah's Witnesses are banned from importing Bible publications into Russia; Millions of magazines detained by Russian customs\nMarch 2016: guilty verdict for all 16 Taganrog residents; The sentence is up to 5.5 years in prison conditionally.\nJuly 2016: action of armed special forces against believers in Karelia; pressure on believers in different parts of Russia begins\nApril 2017: Russian Supreme Court liquidates all 396 Jehovah's Witnesses organizations in Russia citing \"extremism\"\nMay 2017: The first believer, Dennis Christensen, was sent to a pre-trial detention center in the city of Oryol.\nDecember 7, 2017: A St. Petersburg court legalized the seizure of real estate that housed the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia; the property is owned by a foreign owner, the Pennsylvania Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.\nDecember 20, 2017: The Leningrad Regional Court declared the Russian translation of the Bible distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses as \"extremist material.\"\nApril 2018: searches were conducted in Ufa, Anatoliy Vilitkevich was sent to a pre-trial detention center\nAlyona Vilitkevich : At 6:40 a.m., the doorbell rang.\nAlfiya Ilyasova: I was at home with my children.\nVenera Mikhailova: I saw armed men on the street.\nOlesya Yakimova: There were riot police vests, masks and machine guns.\nElena Kozhevnikova: There was a very loud knock, I had to open it.\nGulfiya Khafizova: When my husband opened the doors, this young man put a gun to my husband's face.\nVenera Mikhailova: A search has begun. They threw everywhere, climbed everywhere.\nGulfiya Khafizova: We were not allowed to communicate with each other, we were not allowed to call anyone.\nOlesya Yakimova: When we were brought to the investigative committee, going up to the 2nd floor, my mother immediately became ill, and she fainted.\nElena Kozhevnikova: I ran up to my sister, she was already lying on the floor, on the dirty floor. We shouted, \"Help, somebody!\"\nOlesya Yakimova: And just a crowd of people, men who surrounded me, looked at all this, as if it was really some kind of farce and circus.\nElena Kozhevnikova: Then the ambulance came. She was taken away. Her daughter was released with her, but I was not.\nOlesya Yakimova: That is, I actually almost lost my mother that day.\nAlfiya Ilyasova: I'm not afraid for myself, I'm afraid for my children. And what will they do without me.\nSuzanne and Artur Ilyasov: We didn't do anything wrong, but they came at us with machine guns, and as if we were some kind of criminals.\nOver the following months, dozens of such searches and arrests were carried out in Russia.\nYaroslav Sivulsky from the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses: \"During the hearing of the case in the Supreme Court, representatives of the Ministry of Justice repeatedly argued that the court's decision would not affect ordinary believers in any way. It will apply only to legal entities, but what do we see in fact? Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, is being violated, and the norms of international law are being violated.\"\nMassimo Introvigne, Founding Director of the International Center for the Study of New Religions (Italy): \"During the fascist period, Jehovah's Witnesses faced persecution. However, they were not persecuted for extremism, but quite the opposite. They were persecuted for pacifism, for refusing to cooperate with the fascist regime, for not supporting militant speeches and public sentiments. It can be said that they were persecuted for not being extremists. So when I found out that Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia were being persecuted for extremism, it sounded ridiculous to me.\"\nMikhail Sitnikov, journalist: \"It turns out that in my country it is so easy to deal with, I emphasize this word \"crack down\", with a fairly large number of believers, with their dignity, their religious feelings. If it happened in some movie, yes, probably, it would be great, it would be a godsend - to show how you can mock people.\nAlexander Verkhovsky, member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation: \"Many of these repressive mechanisms are invented not for any particular group, but for some other threat, not religious, strictly speaking, but rather political. And then they are often used in quite unexpected ways.\nGerhard Bézier, religious scholar: \"Therefore, it would be very insidious to transfer the term 'extremism', a political term, to the religious sphere.\"\nMassimo Introvigne: \"I have yet to meet a single expert who would not agree that Russia's actions towards Jehovah's Witnesses are illegal, given the international Convention on Human Rights, which Russia is a signatory.\"\nAlexander Verkhovsky: \"In fact, with regard to Jehovah's Witnesses, this means that all, well, at least adult Jehovah's Witnesses, can potentially be prosecuted.\"\nMikhail Sitnikov: \"How to understand this? Like, look, you and I, like rabbits, can do anything. And not even just with you. But here he is, a Dane, because of him, a representative officially comes from Denmark, and we sneezed on it. As we did, so we will keep it. Intimidation? Who should be intimidated?\"\nAlexander Verkhovsky: \"There is not a single democratic country where such a mechanism would exist.\"\nMassimo Introvigne: \"One of Russia's goals is to give a semblance of legitimacy to the decision to liquidate Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\nGerhard Bézier: \"We must not give up trying to convey to the public what is happening.\"\nAs of August 8, 2018, there are 26 believers in the pre-trial detention center.\n","category":"overview","date":"2018-08-08T13:28:11+03:00","duration":"7:48","image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/08/414/how_jws_became_an_extremists_hu_78d1ab7bc705d235.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/08/414/how_jws_became_an_extremists.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/08/414/how_jws_became_an_extremists_hu_fc43d2caaf6c2d2a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/08/414/how_jws_became_an_extremists_hu_c4f217835929130a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/08/414.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["Bible-ban","video","analytics","review","mro","plant","search","suspended","liquidation","bible-ban","human-rights-defenders","sizo"],"title":"How were believers in Russia turned into \"extremists\"?","type":"video"},{"body":"A 2-minute video review of property in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, which the prosecutor's office, in violation of the basic principles of the inviolability of private property, is trying to take away from a large foreign association.\nSt. Petersburg, the village of Solnechnoye. The Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia was located here. 10 hectares of landscaped area, 14 buildings with a total area of 33,000 square meters. The complex was built in 1997 by volunteers. Since 2000, ownership has been held by the Watch Tower, Bibles, and Tracts Society of Pennsylvania. During this time, the \"Society\" paid about 190,000,000 rubles in taxes to the budget of the Russian Federation. The Russian authorities intend to seize this property from a foreign organization. The appeal hearing in the St. Petersburg City Court is scheduled for May 3, 2018.\n","category":"overview","date":"2018-04-30T12:13:33+03:00","duration":"2:02","image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/04/306/digest_solnechnoye_hu_2fc21baccd70f2c7.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/04/306/digest_solnechnoye.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/04/306/digest_solnechnoye_hu_62f9de766b9a7468.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/04/306/digest_solnechnoye_hu_659ba196f83e3494.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/04/306.html","regions":["stpetersburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["review","video","belongings-arrest"],"title":"Summary: What do they want to take away from Jehovah's Witnesses in Solnechnoye?","type":"video"},{"body":"On December 7, 2017, the Sestroretsky District Court of St. Petersburg made an unprecedented decision to seize a large real estate complex in St. Petersburg from a foreign organization, recognizing the 17-year-old transaction as invalid.\n\"We are talking about 14 buildings with an area of 33,000 square meters,\" says Yaroslav Sivulsky of the European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses.- They are located on 10 hectares of beautiful, landscaped territory in the village of Solnechnoye, this is the Kurortny district of St. Petersburg. And this complex was transferred to the possession of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania in 2000.\nDuring the 4-hour court session, exhaustive evidence was presented confirming the legality of the transfer of the complex to a foreign owner.\nAttorney Victor Shipilov explained, \"For example, in the 2000's, in 2007, the transfer of property to the ownership of the Watch Tower Bible and Tracts Society of Pennsylvania was carefully checked, and no violations by the prosecutor's office were found, no claims were made.\"\n\"The Watch Tower Society had to pay taxes, even though the Administrative Center, as a religious organization registered under Russian law, was exempt from paying taxes on land and real estate,\" lawyer Artur Leontiev explained. This amount amounted to about three million dollars. It is clear that making an imaginary deal purely for the sake of appearance or on paper, no one would spend that kind of money.\nNotably, the Watch Tower Society was not allowed to participate in the April 2017 hearings before the Russian Supreme Court. Then the Supreme Court refused to involve the \"Society\" in the case, arguing that the interests of this organization were not affected in any way.\nArtur Leontiev: \"In simple terms, this situation can be compared with the fact that I, for example, am the owner of the apartment in which my relative lives, and some law enforcement agencies make claims to this relative on far-fetched, perhaps, grounds and say that he violated something. Representatives of the state come to me and say: \"Give me an apartment!\" I say: \"Why?\" - \"Well, because your relative, in our opinion, violated the law.\" I said: \"I'm sorry, I didn't break the law, they didn't make any claims against me. Why do you want to take my property?\" but nevertheless they say, 'Yes, we want to take it.'\"\nIt is worth noting that the Russian Federation did not finance the construction of the complex. An abandoned pioneer camp located on this territory was purchased commercially by Jehovah's Witnesses from one of the Russian enterprises.\nYaroslav Sivulsky: \"This complex was built at the expense of foreign religious organizations and exclusively by the believers themselves. So there is nothing illogical in the fact that these buildings were subsequently donated to the Watch Tower Society, at whose request the construction was carried out.\nAlexander Blokhin recalls: \"We saw with what enthusiasm, dedication, desire, joy fellow believers from many countries take part in this. They came with trailers, they lived there, in these trailers. That is, people made specific sacrifices. Today, seeing that what was built with such love, with such sacrifices, with such dedication, is simply taken away. It's just humanly very sad and painful.\" His wife Olga shares her feelings: \"It seems that a part of your heart was torn off from you, because smells, plants, everything that was there, as if it were all with your own hands, and a lot of soul was put into it.\"\nRecall that this happened in Russia only once, namely 100 years ago, in 1918. Then, by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars, all the property of the Russian Orthodox Church was taken away. The decision of the Sestroretsky District Court has no analogues in the history of modern Russia.\nMikhail Sitnikov, journalist: \"If we proceed from normal human understanding, then this is a robbery. Actually, the same violence, the other side of the same violence, which was expressed in discrimination against religion and believers, was expressed in insults when they broke in during worship. It is expressed now in the fact that they are trying to take everything to the skin.\nGerhard Bézier, religious scholar: \"Such a step surprised me, because it harms the image of Russia in certain circles. In my opinion, there is no benefit for Russia in this. We must not give up trying to convey to the public what is happening, and especially to reach out to thinking people around the world.\"\nRoman Lunkin, religious scholar: \"I think that the time will come when the Russian state will have to carry out the same partial restitution of religious property that has been taking place since 2010 in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church and, of course, the state will sooner or later have to return to the principles of religious freedom, which means returning to Jehovah's Witnesses what is now being confiscated.\"\n\"If the case is considered purely according to the law, then we believe that the decision of the Sestroretsky District Court should be canceled and the prosecutor's claim should be denied,\" said lawyer Artur Leontiev. If any other considerations prevail, well, then we will continue the appeal further.\n\"Jehovah's Witnesses have dedicated all the property that can be seized to Jehovah God,\" says Yaroslav Sivulsky. Therefore, we believe that it belongs to God and is taken away from God. And the Bible teaches us to put all our worries on Him.\"\n","category":"overview","date":"2018-04-25T18:24:51+03:00","duration":"6:10","image":{"jpg":"/news/2018/04/305/solnechnoye_hu_80cc18bdd8229dbd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2018/04/305/solnechnoye.jpg","webp":"/news/2018/04/305/solnechnoye_hu_b3b41bc3b5c09428.webp","webp2x":"/news/2018/04/305/solnechnoye_hu_6bf156ba7abdbb29.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2018/04/305.html","regions":["stpetersburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["review","fabrications","video","administrative-center"],"title":"Seizure of foreign property by Russian authorities","type":"video"},{"body":"On December 14, 2017, about 40 employees of various departments, including the Ministry of Emergency Situations, seized and later sealed a huge worship building near the Pionerskaya metro station in St. Petersburg. Details are being clarified.\nThis building with the sign \"Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses\" was inaugurated in September 1999 at 21 Kolomyazhsky Prospekt. One of the specialized magazines published a brief architectural and design review of this building, as well as an interview with its architect Helenios Osmo Ilmari.\nArchival video (April 11, 2017) shows how believers gather for the last service in this building.\n","category":"from-the-scene","date":"2017-12-14T18:15:08+03:00","duration":"1:22","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/12/276/20171214_0_hu_807ec00a0d59d588.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/12/276/20171214_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/12/276/20171214_0_hu_6888005e01d4b60b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/12/276/20171214_0_hu_6e9de9520eaa7560.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/12/276.html","regions":["stpetersburg"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","buildings-seizure","administrative-center"],"title":"A liturgical building that served for thousands of St. Petersburg believers was seized and sealed","type":"video"},{"body":"It took the Russian Supreme Court six days to rule on the Justice Ministry's lawsuit to liquidate and ban all 396 registered Jehovah's Witnesses organizations in Russia.\n\"When the judge rejected one petition after another, it seemed that everything, the issue was already a foregone conclusion,\" says Yaroslav Sivulsky, a member of the steering committee of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The lawyers filed various petitions for admission to participate in the case of representatives of local organizations, for the involvement of experts, for the study of various documents, but the judge's words sounded again and again in the courtroom: \"The court, having listened to the opinion of the persons participating in the case, determined: to refuse to satisfy the petition.\"\nYaroslav Sivulsky: \"In general, about seventeen petitions were rejected and only one was granted by the court. We did not see any evidence in favor of the Justice Department's claim. To clarifying questions, a representative of the Ministry of Justice often said: \"I don't know,\" \"I don't know.\"\nFragment of the dialogue between the court and the representative of the Ministry of Justice (from the transcript of the trial). Judge Ivanenko: \"You were preparing for the trial...\" - \"Yes.\" - \"Surely you know what kind of threat we are talking about?\" - \"Now I find it difficult to answer.\"\nFragment of the dialogue between lawyer Zhenkov and a representative of the Ministry of Justice. Zhenkov: \"Tell me, are there any cases of violations of public order by Jehovah's Witnesses under the influence of the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses read? Do you have such facts?\" - \"No, I do not have such facts.\"\nFragment of the dialogue between the lawyer Omelchenko and the representative of the Ministry of Justice. Omelchenko: \"Please name which local religious organization spent what amount and on what type of extremist activity\" - \"We do not check local religious organizations.\" - \"That is, you do not have such information?\" - \"No.\"\n8 witnesses were questioned in court, including 4 witnesses from the plaintiff's side. \"They failed to cite a single fact confirming the extremist activities of Jehovah's Witnesses,\" says Yaroslav Sivulsky.\nUnder the sights of dozens of cameras, Judge Yuriy Ivanenko announced the verdict: \"The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation decided to satisfy the administrative claim of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation ...\" And on the same day, unknown persons threw stones at the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses in St. Petersburg. A similar development of events was predicted during the pleadings by the representative of the defendant, Maxim Novakov: \"From this status of 'extremists' will follow the widespread use of violence against Jehovah's Witnesses.\"\nThe decision of the Supreme Court, which caused a wide international outcry, will be appealed.\n","category":"overview","date":"2017-05-01T17:08:24+03:00","duration":"3:17","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/05/152/frame_for_jw-russia_hu_9d67c8ae7ae4d932.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/05/152/frame_for_jw-russia.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/05/152/frame_for_jw-russia_hu_891f148a822e175b.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/05/152/frame_for_jw-russia_hu_70aeee307af5dae5.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/05/152.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","liquidation","mro","administrative-center","supreme-court","courtroom","review"],"title":"Video: Review of the trial to liquidate Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia","type":"video"},{"body":"\"Jehovah's Witnesses in France are citizens like everyone else. There is no reason to think otherwise. Some of their beliefs are unique to them. But these beliefs do not contradict the values of the French Republic and do not conflict with the teachings of other religions that exist in France. I would like to emphasize that France has always been a multi-confessional country, and even more so today. We are a secular state, and it is not always easy for foreign countries to understand this. That is, we proceed from the fact that everyone is free to believe what he wants, and the state does not interfere in religious matters. Therefore, we can coexist peacefully. The government does not impose its ideology, and religions, in turn, do not dominate each other. That is why, I think and hope, Jehovah's Witnesses can practice their faith in an acceptable way without disturbing public order. But so far they have never been seen in such violations.\nI believe that a democratic society should clearly define what it means to violate public order, to harm the common interest. A democratic country can blame and condemn someone in clear terms. Extremism is an obscure concept. Each of us will always be an \"extremist\" for someone. There is political diversity in France, and views can range from the extreme left to the extreme right. Does this mean that people who hold opposing views are extremists who violate public order? Absolutely not. Public order is violated by someone who causes damage to property or people, for example, in public places. We all know what it looks like. But the concept of \"extremism\" does not make any sense to me if it does not include specific actions that can be qualified as extremism. For this reason, if they try to bring Jehovah's Witnesses under this law, then the concept of \"extremism\" is not applicable in this case. Perhaps the law on extremism is a way to convey to religious groups, whether Jehovah's Witnesses or someone else, that they must obey this law without clarifying concepts and any clarifications. In this case, in practice, this means that the fight is not against extremism, but against religion itself. Consequently, the principle underlying international human rights instruments — the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms — is violated. Both documents contain an article that clearly defines freedom of conscience and religion. According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, freedom of conscience and religion is unconditional. The European Convention on Human Rights states that such freedom may be restricted if public order is affected. A Russian judge should take into account that if the fact of violation of public order is not proven, then Jehovah's Witnesses are persecuted for completely different reasons - they are persecuted as a religion. In this case, we ignore the fundamental freedom enshrined in the most important international laws. I would like you to persuade the Supreme Court, which is obliged to decide on the case, to carefully weigh two conditions: on the one hand, the fact of violation of public order, and on the other hand, freedom of religion is a fundamental right that cannot be taken away without serious consequences.\nJean-Marie Delarue, member of the French Council of State, former director of civil liberties at the French Ministry of the Interior.\n","category":"opinion","date":"2017-04-18T13:43:09+03:00","duration":"4:37","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/04/145/photo_delarue_0_hu_6a802309b3f4b75c.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/04/145/photo_delarue_0.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/04/145/photo_delarue_0_hu_e6293b4cc25e6916.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/04/145/photo_delarue_0_hu_ecf11ceed2c8b349.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/04/145.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","international-community","human-rights-defenders","expert-comments","eu"],"title":"Jean-Marie Delarue: \"In practice, this means that the fight is not against extremism, but against religion itself\"","type":"video"},{"body":"\"First of all, I must say that I do not belong to Jehovah's Witnesses, so I do not know the details of their doctrine. But on duty, I had the opportunity to work and get to know some of their responsible persons in Spain. We have a great relationship. My impression of the Witnesses is that they are very kind people who never create difficulties in cooperation.\nThe only \"extremist activity\" I have seen from Jehovah's Witnesses is their extreme kindness and politeness. In Spain, their legal status was established many years ago, they are recognized as a well-known religion. This gave them great legal powers. For example, now they have the right to register marriages. In other words, the state has a lot of trust in this religious group. And, of course, as far as I know, in our country there have never been any occasions for lawsuits, complaints or accusations against this group because of any of its activities that could be considered extremist or illegal.\n[Russia should take into account] the norms of international law, as well as the rulings of courts, primarily the European Court of Human Rights in cases of freedom of religion, including Jehovah's Witnesses, especially in Russia. For example, the rulings in the case of Kuznetsov in 2007 and Krupko in 2014, as well as in the case of 2010 on the illegal denial of the right of Moscow Jehovah's Witnesses to have a registered community. In its decision, the European Court emphasized at least two principles that should serve as a guide when deciding in such cases imposing a ban on religious activity.\nFirst of all, the state must be neutral and impartial in relation to religious beliefs. And secondly, and most importantly, citizens as a group professing their faith in community with others must be guaranteed that the State will not illegally and arbitrarily interfere with their activities. In other words, the right to separate the state from religion, that is, from views or their expression. This implies autonomy for religious associations, freedom from interference by the state in internal organization and activities.\nI think that the reaction should be the same as we are already seeing in some forums. A statement was issued by the International Helsinki Group, an organization affiliated with the OSCE, which considers the application of anti-extremist legislation (and it was not intended to apply to religious organizations as such) as arbitrary. The dangers associated with the overly broad application of this law may lead to the fact that it will be applied to any creed that for some reason is considered extremist. In fact, in 2010, when the European Court of Human Rights expressed its opinion in the case of the Moscow Jehovah's Witnesses community, it had already considered the arguments that led to the ban of this organization to be arbitrary and baseless. And now they again intend to go beyond the law, to misuse the law. Therefore, international organizations and democratic states must respond to protect the right to freedom of religion of all citizens, in this case, citizens of Russia.\"\nMercedes Murillo Muñoz is a professor of ecclesiastical law at the University of King Juan Carlos (Spain).\n","category":"opinion","date":"2017-04-18T13:36:58+03:00","duration":"5:17","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/04/144/photo_mercedes_murillo_hu_9c2a9241628e3.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/04/144/photo_mercedes_murillo.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/04/144/photo_mercedes_murillo_hu_dbcffafed24b90b8.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/04/144/photo_mercedes_murillo_hu_8dc402127078e71e.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/04/144.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["eu","expert-comments","human-rights-defenders","international-community","video"],"title":"Mercedes Murillo Muñoz: \"Our state has a lot of confidence in this religious group\"","type":"video"},{"body":"\"In Spain, they [Jehovah's Witnesses] have been registered in the Register of Religious Organizations of the Ministry of Justice since 1970.\nFrom 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.\nFrom 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.\nReligious 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.\nI 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.\nIn 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.\"\nConsuelo Madrigal, lawyer, teacher, until 2016 Attorney General of Spain.\n","category":"opinion","date":"2017-04-17T21:33:08+03:00","duration":"2:34","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/04/143/photo_consuelo_madrigal_hu_cc18f6e94f11dfdb.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/04/143/photo_consuelo_madrigal.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/04/143/photo_consuelo_madrigal_hu_16da032b8507335a.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/04/143/photo_consuelo_madrigal_hu_c3ca82bf2fe19138.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/04/143.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["eu","international-community","expert-comments","human-rights-defenders","video"],"title":"Consuelo Madrigal: \"I don't consider Jehovah's Witnesses dangerous in any way\"","type":"video"},{"body":"From April 5 to April 7, 2017, the Supreme Court of Russia held the first hearings on the lawsuit of the Ministry of Justice, which demands that an entire religion be banned in Russia. A one-and-a-half-minute video.\n","category":"from-the-scene","date":"2017-04-11T08:50:59+03:00","duration":"1:21","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/04/140/supreme_court_hu_46cf6c3870d0fc01.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/04/140/supreme_court.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/04/140/supreme_court_hu_bac3c4b267077574.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/04/140/supreme_court_hu_f0d153ac2fa15e00.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/04/140.html","regions":["moscow"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","supreme-court","liquidation"],"title":"Video: Jehovah's Witnesses in the Supreme Court. The first days of meetings","type":"video"},{"body":"\"I have experience with Jehovah's Witnesses, and quite extensive. I know them as gentle people and very convinced in their views, but this does not distinguish them from many others.\nTo call extremism the idea that your religion is true and someone else's false, or to call it terrorism, is, frankly, absurd. I can't imagine that at least some country agreed with this. I fully share the conviction that the Russian government is behaving in this situation in an extreme way.\nThere is nothing in the case evidence that I have read, on which the charges against Jehovah's Witnesses are based, that would in any way support the accusations of extremism.\nRecognizing Jehovah's Witnesses as extremists will do nothing to help Russia consolidate its reputation as a civilized country. Any decision against Jehovah's Witnesses will affect others. It will be a red flag for everyone - if you disagree with the Russian authorities, you are at risk. This is a direct signal: you need to do what you are told, you need to refrain from expressing your views and not have beliefs that are at odds with the state ideology. This application of the law forms an image of religious freedom in Russia as extremely negative: \"You can believe in anything, as long as you believe in what I tell you.\"\nIn my opinion, this is a shocking example of how a bad law is being used for an even worse purpose.\nOf course, Jehovah's Witnesses can appeal to the Strasbourg Court. This, of course, will take time and a lot. But such draconian, extraordinary measures, as well as the irreparable consequences of confiscation of property, should prompt the Strasbourg Court to maintain their status quo until the case is heard. Of course, it will be a very difficult time, and they will be persecuted even more than before.\nHaving worked with them, I find the idea that Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists or dangerous to society to be extremely strange. Perhaps someone is irritated by them. But irritation is not a reason to close them or deprive them of their rights.\nRichard Clayton, Queen's Counsel, UK Representative to the Venice Commission.\n","category":"opinion","date":"2017-03-31T11:02:58+03:00","duration":"2:55","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/03/123/photo_clayton_hu_d3de5570ba49f98.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/03/123/photo_clayton.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/03/123/photo_clayton_hu_4518e956a91f1f29.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/03/123/photo_clayton_hu_f474dfd206a3c6aa.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/03/123.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["eu","international-community","human-rights-defenders","expert-comments","video"],"title":"Richard Clayton: \"A shocking example of how a bad law is being used for an even worse purpose\"","type":"video"},{"body":"\"I worked closely with Russia, which is an active member of the OSCE and which has done a lot in the interests of persecuted Christians around the world. Therefore, it seems to me somewhat paradoxical that the problems of religious freedom now exist within Russia itself. As I understand it, the law used against Jehovah's Witnesses is the law on countering extremism. And it is quite understandable that Russia is concerned about problems related to extremism because of its geopolitical position and the fight against terrorism. However, religious freedom is a fragile concept and the definition of extremism can easily be turned against groups that are not particularly popular, and it is usually a test of the quality of religious freedom in a country.\nI have been studying Jehovah's Witnesses for 40 years, and it is especially important that they are a \"peaceful community,\" to put it formally in the terminology of historians and sociologists. They are peaceful people who reject violence and have never used violence themselves. The only connection between Jehovah's Witnesses and violence is that they are victims of violence. The Nazi regime murdered more than 2,000 Jehovah's Witnesses. Here is a well-known fact that testifies to their peacefulness: when Jehovah's Witnesses were in concentration camps, they were the only prisoners whom the Nazis allowed to visit as barbers, because only they could be trusted with a dangerous razor, confident that they would not use the blade against Nazi guards. As can be seen, Jehovah's Witnesses are a supremely peaceful community.\nAnd now, as far as I know, they are sometimes accused of extremism under Russian law, because their publications claim that they are the only true religion. But there are two observations in this regard. First, a certain emphatic style of writing is characteristic of religious literature in general. This can be found in the Holy Quran of Muslims, and in the Old Testament in the Bible. Second, Jehovah's Witnesses are not in favor of being treated better by states or governments than by members of any other religion.\nTherefore, I believe that declaring Jehovah's Witnesses extremists is based on a misinterpretation of what is the typical literary style of their publications. Banning and discriminating against Jehovah's Witnesses in any way would be a mistake and a danger to the religious freedom of many other groups. This would tarnish the image of Russia, both as a government and as a country, which does a lot in an international forum, advocating for religious freedom for persecuted Christians in many countries of the world.\nDr. Massimo Introvigne, Founding Director of the International Centre for the Study of New Religions (Italy), has served as OSCE Commissioner for Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination since 2011. ","category":"opinion","date":"2017-03-30T17:06:47+03:00","duration":"3:39","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/03/122/photo_introvigne_hu_eba3e5243957c140.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/03/122/photo_introvigne.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/03/122/photo_introvigne_hu_7ed8f745b039233.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/03/122/photo_introvigne_hu_a5634848975d3499.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/03/122.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["eu","international-community","expert-comments","human-rights-defenders","video"],"title":"Massimo Introvigne: \"The only connection between Jehovah's Witnesses and violence is that they are victims of violence\"","type":"video"},{"body":"\"During the years when I served as UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, I often came into contact with Jehovah's Witnesses in different countries during fact-finding missions, because Jehovah's Witnesses are one of the communities that is most threatened, while society as a whole ignores their situation. Therefore, it is especially important that we learn about the tragedy that is now unfolding there.\nIf we talk about legislation on extremism, everyone agrees that it is important to fight extremist tendencies, but the concept of \"extremism\" remains completely blurred. Which creates a kind of access for the authorities, a loophole, an excuse to do what they want. And Jehovah's Witnesses are the perfect scapegoat.\nAfter all, many people regard them with suspicion: Jehovah's Witnesses are active, engaged in missionary work. Not everyone likes it — even if they do it exclusively for peaceful purposes — but they exercise their right to freedom of religion and belief.\nIf Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists, then we are all extremists.\nThis is an example of legislation so vague that it gives the authorities carte blanche to prosecute anyone.\nAll this creates an atmosphere of fear, threat, and, of course, contradicts the letter and spirit of human rights. So the people of Russia and the entire international community should pay close attention to what is happening there.\nThis affects all Russians, because the more space is taken away from minorities, the more democracy itself is at risk.\nEither we have a space where freedom of religion or belief can be exercised without imposition, intimidation and absurd threats in the name of fighting extremism, or this space will shrink more and more. And we have already seen this in many countries. If the state makes a religious community a target, a scapegoat, it reduces the scope for all. Therefore, it is in the interest of all religious communities to have space for the free expression of their faith. Including the majority, because the freedom to talk about one's faith is freedom of religion. At the end of the day, it serves the interests of the majority, even if they don't understand it.\"\nDr. Heiner Bielefeldt, Professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Since 2010, he has served as UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.\n","category":"opinion","date":"2017-03-30T14:42:42+03:00","duration":"2:58","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/03/121/photo_bielefeldt_hu_8d136ed69f111c3b.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/03/121/photo_bielefeldt.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/03/121/photo_bielefeldt_hu_779475c7a815a7f7.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/03/121/photo_bielefeldt_hu_cd700229e6e9aa41.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/03/121.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["eu","international-community","expert-comments","human-rights-defenders","video"],"title":"Heiner Bielefeldt: \"If Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists, then we are all extremists\"","type":"video"},{"body":"\"I have been researching Jehovah's Witnesses for many years. I visited Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, in the USA, in England, in Copenhagen, in Denmark. I have talked with many of Jehovah's Witnesses. They are a religious minority, but a minority that coexists peacefully with the rest of society. They go to the same schools, work in regular jobs. They do not separate themselves from society, but adapt to it.\nThe law on extremism is rather vague, it was created with the specific purpose of preventing incitement to violence and hatred on racial or religious grounds. But the law does not say what types of actions are extremist.\nJehovah's Witnesses are a Christian organization, and Christianity by its nature claims to be exclusive. This means that Christian organizations claim to possess the absolute truth. If the extremists are Jehovah's Witnesses, then most Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant versions of Christianity can be called the same.\nJehovah's Witnesses are known for their opposition to violence, especially for their refusal to serve in the military and not to carry weapons. And yet there is a law accusing Jehovah's Witnesses of inciting violence, which in itself is ironic.\nState laws on religious movements are often problematic, especially with regard to the worldviews of religious movements. Because such laws often apply to some currents, and do not apply to others, although they have a very similar worldview.\nDr. Annika Hvithamar, religious scholar, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark).\n","category":"opinion","date":"2017-03-29T14:41:43+03:00","duration":"1:58","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/03/117/foto_hvithamar_hu_592b1429f987ed5a.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/03/117/foto_hvithamar.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/03/117/foto_hvithamar_hu_655cf842f017938c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/03/117/foto_hvithamar_hu_ae56697ddd900640.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/03/117.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["eu","international-community","expert-comments","human-rights-defenders","video"],"title":"Annika Vitamar: \"If Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists, then most versions of Christianity can be called the same\"","type":"video"},{"body":"\"The religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany is quite famous. Largely due to their preaching activities. But there are also many prejudices against them. In particular, for this reason, the process of recognizing Jehovah's Witnesses as a public law corporation has been so delayed. On the other hand, in the course of all court proceedings, all arguments were exhausted and it was proved that prejudices against Jehovah's Witnesses were unfounded. So now—and I'm happy about that—Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany are recognized by both the court and the state authorities as the official religion, and thus equated with the big churches.\nI must say that in Germany there is no such legal concept as extremism. I can only guess what is meant by this in Russia. For example, in Germany, this may mean some acts of violence with political overtones, that a crime is committed for political reasons. If the term \"extremism\" is applied to Jehovah's Witnesses in this sense, then it is completely absurd.\nEveryone knows that Jehovah's Witnesses do not pursue political goals. By the way, I can say about Germany, here, I think, there are few groups whose crime rate is lower than that of Jehovah's Witnesses.\nOf course, Jehovah's Witnesses have their own ideas about morality, which seem strict in many respects compared to German ideas. For example, strict sexual morality or conservative, from the point of view of the majority, view of the family. However, I don't know what extremism has to do with it.\nI can't imagine that a court with enough information could come to the conclusion that Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists or could be politically dangerous.\nIn addition, do not forget that in Russia there is also a Constitutional Court. I don't know if you can contact him. But what I do know is that it was absolutely right and legal of us to do everything possible to convey the information, as I am doing at the moment, that Jehovah's Witnesses, as far as we know, are in no way connected with politics.\nIn addition, it is worth recalling that Jehovah's Witnesses were banned only by dictatorial regimes, for example, Nazi Germany. And I don't think today's Russia is like that.\"\nDr. Hubert Seiwert, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religious Studies at the University of Leipzig (Germany).\n","category":"opinion","date":"2017-03-29T11:42:40+03:00","duration":"4:07","image":{"jpg":"/news/2017/03/116/foto_seiwert_hu_5939c3b323ecc2bd.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2017/03/116/foto_seiwert.jpg","webp":"/news/2017/03/116/foto_seiwert_hu_2f5a1d76435a006d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2017/03/116/foto_seiwert_hu_4f3b562208b00f9a.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2017/03/116.html","regions":["eu"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","international-community","expert-comments","human-rights-defenders","eu"],"title":"Hubert Seiwert: \"Prejudice against Jehovah's Witnesses is unfounded\"","type":"video"},{"body":"On September 20, 2016, masked law enforcement officers searched the worship building of Jehovah's Witnesses in the village of Nezlobnaya (Stavropol Territory). The CCTV footage clearly shows the actions of law enforcement officers.\nEarly in the morning, several cars drove up to the building, people in black masks got out of them. Jumping over the fence, they broke the lock on the gate, cut off the front door with special means and entered the building.\nThe camera footage shows that the employees were dispersed to different rooms. Several people entered the hall on the first floor and two of them, in the presence of their colleagues, took forbidden literature from under their clothes and put it in a table next to them. Later, employees allegedly withdraw forbidden literature from the exact part of the table where it was placed, while the rest of the shelves remain empty.\nAs Pavel Puzyrev, chairman of the committee of the local religious organization (LRO) of Jehovah's Witnesses, later explained, the worship building is regularly checked for the presence of foreign objects and prohibited literature. On the eve of the special operation, such a check was carried out as usual. In particular, there was nothing in that table, it was empty.\nAmong other things, law enforcement officers seized audio and video equipment. When Yevgeny Vernik, a representative of the owner and a member of the LRO committee, arrived at the worship building, law enforcement officers did not allow him to participate in the search. Wernick said: \"The senior person in charge of the search did not introduce himself, did not let me read the order. Moreover, when I asked him to provide me with a copy of the order, he rudely demanded that I leave the building. And I had to do it.\"\nAccording to lawyers, these actions were carried out in violation of the law. For example, there was no search warrant, although there were people in the building. They were not offered to open the door voluntarily, but instead immediately used special equipment. Also, law enforcement officers exceeded their official powers by removing the owner's representative from the search site.\nIn Nezlobnaya, a search was also conducted in the house of the chairman of the LRO, Pavel Puzyrev. He said: \"Some of the officers climbed over the fence, and when they came to our house, there were about 10 of them, they immediately dispersed to different rooms, which is why we could not observe the search. And, for example, the first toss was made in the kitchen. It is noteworthy that a week before these events, Puzyrev became the victim of a provocation: in educational institutions, unknown persons pasted fake leaflets on his behalf. During the search, in addition to prohibited literature, a stack of such leaflets was planted on him. As a result, a protocol on an administrative offense was drawn up against him.\nBelievers believe that the incident indicates the intention of the authorities to ban their local religious organization, which has been legally operating in the village of Nezlobnaya for 17 years.\n\"The last time searches were conducted in the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the village of Nezlobnaya was in 1985,\" said Pavel Puzyrev, \"At that time, every Jehovah's Witness understood that law enforcement officers could come to him at any time and seize the Bible and Bible literature. History repeats itself. Only now, in 2016, even if you don't have anything forbidden, they can just throw it at you!\"\nThe Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is already aware of at least 60 plantings and falsifications. \"In most cases, believers are only forced to shrug their shoulders helplessly,\" said Sivulsky Yaroslav, a representative of the center, \"However, cases, as in Nezlobnaya, when the toss is recorded on camera, prove a very sad truth: the planting is carried out by those who themselves must protect the law and the law! It is their conscience. It is their responsibility before God and men.\"\n","category":"from-the-scene","date":"2016-09-30T08:48:48+03:00","duration":"4:35","image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/09/46/nezlopnaya_picture_for_jw-russia_hu_ed6c3febbd227ea5.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/09/46/nezlopnaya_picture_for_jw-russia.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/09/46/nezlopnaya_picture_for_jw-russia_hu_c1780a457b0402d6.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/09/46/nezlopnaya_picture_for_jw-russia_hu_ffc16ba6ad5a9b18.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/09/46.html","regions":["stavropol"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["search","video","plant","fabrications"],"title":"Surveillance Cameras: Security Officers Plant Banned Books on Believers","type":"video"},{"body":"Members of the Presidential Council for Human Rights Lyudmila Alekseeva, Alexander Verkhovsky and Vladimir Ryakhovsky speak about the demand of the prosecutor's office to recognize the Bible seized from Jehovah's Witnesses as \"extremist material.\"\n","category":"opinion","date":"2016-03-30T10:10:10+03:00","duration":"3:19","image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/03/11/nwt_2016_cover_hu_2ca8bdd06de02fd4.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/03/11/nwt_2016_cover_hu_de7af7ce56a3f2ef.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/03/11/nwt_2016_cover_hu_93d1820d1cd6f87d.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/03/11/nwt_2016_cover_hu_7c07aafea4ad866d.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/03/11.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["Bible-ban","video","presidential-council","expert-comments","human-rights-defenders"],"title":"A lawsuit to recognize the Bible as extremist. What do human rights activists say?","type":"video"},{"body":"Evidence is being gathered that law enforcement agencies and individuals who cooperate with them systematically plant books included in the list of extremist materialsto believers . Unscrupulous authorities do everything to find a pretext to accuse Jehovah's Witnesses.\n","category":"from-the-scene","date":"2016-02-15T14:27:00+03:00","duration":"5:50","image":{"jpg":"/news/2016/02/2/image_hu_74837476bf4cc3da.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2016/02/2/image.jpg","webp":"/news/2016/02/2/image_hu_32f1834b97ae0524.webp","webp2x":"/news/2016/02/2/image_hu_f87e6ced6f00a4ab.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2016/02/2.html","regions":["crimea"],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","fabrications","plant","fsem"],"title":"How law enforcers fabricate charges against Jehovah's Witnesses. Video footage from Sevastopol, Samara and Balakovo","type":"video"},{"body":"Head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation of the North Ossetian State Medical Academy, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Vitaly Slepushkin talks about his medical practice without blood transfusion.\nVideo duration: 00:04:39\n","category":"opinion","date":"2011-09-01T14:10:35+04:00","duration":"4:39","image":{"jpg":"/news/2011/09/609/mpc-hc64_2019-02-12_12-54-41_hu_8fb4c5ae75235f6f.jpg","jpg2x":"/news/2011/09/609/mpc-hc64_2019-02-12_12-54-41.jpg","webp":"/news/2011/09/609/mpc-hc64_2019-02-12_12-54-41_hu_36258b3e03f8a73c.webp","webp2x":"/news/2011/09/609/mpc-hc64_2019-02-12_12-54-41_hu_b0d54bc952101784.webp"},"permalink":"/en/news/2011/09/609.html","regions":[],"subtitle":null,"tags":["video","expert-comments"],"title":"Doctor of Medical Sciences on the benefits of surgery without blood transfusion","type":"video"}]