Russia has banned Jehovah's Witnesses after the Supreme Court ruled the Christian sect to be an “extremist” group.

“The Supreme Court has ruled to sustain the claim of Russia's ministry of justice and deem the 'Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia' organisation extremist, eliminate it and ban its activity in Russia,” said judge Yuri Ivanenko.

“The property of the Jehovah's Witnesses organisation is to be confiscated to the state revenue.”

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A lawyer for the justice ministry, Svetlana Borisova, told the court adherents “pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security”.

Judges ordered the closure of the group's Russian headquarters and 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

Lawyers for the Jehovah's Witnesses said they would appeal the court's decision, which has not yet come into effect, and could take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

“We will do everything possible,” Sergei Cherepanov, a Jehovah's Witnesses representative, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

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This is to coincide with his state of the nation address in Manila. AFP/Getty

In 2010, judges in Strasbourg found a previous ruling by a Russian court to ban the organisation unlawful.

The ministry of justice had previously applied for an order to shut down its national headquarters near St Petersburg, state media reported.

Its administrative centre, which has 175,000 members, had previously been suspended in March over alleged “extremist activity”.

Jehovah's Witnesses, who are known for door-to-door preaching and handing out literature, reject some of mainstream Christianity's core beliefs and have more than 8.3 million members around the world.

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The US-based group has generated controversy for stances including its rejection of blood transfusions and opposition to military service, facing court proceedings in several countries.

Representatives said hundreds of people gathered at the Russian Supreme Court to hear the six-day case, which they said was the culmination of a decade of “aggressive actions”.

David A Semonian, a spokesman at the sect's world headquarters in New York, said the ministry of justice had “no basis” for its claims.

He said the ban would put members under threat of criminal prosecution even for praying together in a “violation of our basic human rights”.

Jehovah’s Witnesses first registered as a religious group in Russia in 1991 and registered again in 1999, but have been targeted repeatedly by authorities in a wide-ranging crackdown on religious freedom.

Russia changed its legal definition of extremism in 2006, removing requirements for violence or hatred but stating the “incitement of….religious discord” as criteria, leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses with the same legal status as Isis or Nazis.

The group's international website was blocked in Russia two years ago over alleged extremism, with the group's Bibles banned the following year, while a local chairman was jailed for two years on charges of possessing "extremist literature" in 2010.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was among the international bodies condemning a “state sponsored campaign of harassment and mistreatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses” it said dated back to the 1990s in Russia.

It listed police searches, assaults, arson attacks, vandalism, seizures and raids on worship, as well as the arrest of several members and criminal investigations.</s>On Thursday, after six days of hearing, Russia’s Supreme Court issued a ruling banning all activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the country and ordered that all the assets of the organization be liquidated. The ban came after the country’s ministry of justice declared the group an “extremist organization,” suspended its headquarters in St. Petersburg and called on the Supreme Court to uphold its claim that the activities of the sect violated the country’s law on religious extremism.

“The Supreme Court has ruled to sustain the claim of Russia’s ministry of justice [that the organization is extremist],” said Judge Yuri Ivanenko, the Independent reported. “The property of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization is to be confiscated to the state revenue.”

“They represent a threat to the rights of people, public order and public safety,” justice ministry spokesperson Svetlana Borisova said, according to Russian news media reports.

However, the ban will not come into effect until after the organization’s appeal has been heard. The attorneys of the group in Russia have confirmed that they will appeal the court’s decision. They also said they will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have consistently denied claims that the group is “extremist,” and warned that the move to ban their activities in Russia would have a damaging impact on religious liberty in the country.

“Millions of believers around the world consider the action of the Ministry of Justice a big mistake,” the group said, according to Newsweek. “If the claim is satisfied, it would entail catastrophic consequences for the freedom of religion in Russia.”

According to the Witnesses, “extremism is profoundly alien to Bible-based beliefs and morality” of members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith.

“We will do everything possible [to challenge the ruling],” Sergei Cherepanov, a spokesperson for the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization in Russia said, according to Interfax news agency.

“I’m shocked,” Yaroslav Sivulsky, another spokesperson for the organization told reporters “I didn’t expect that this could be possible in modern Russia, where the constitution guarantees freedom of religious practice.”

The Jehovah’s Witnesses organization has about 395 branches and about 175,000 members in Russia.

The ban on the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia is significant partly because it is the first time that Russia has banned an organized religious group, according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The move, according to the USCIRF, reflects fear of the growing influence and independence of the fast growing group in a country where the majority of the population, about 72 percent, identify with the Russian Orthodox Church.

“The treatment of the Jehovah’s Witnesses reflects the Russian government’s tendency to view all independent religious activity as a threat to its control and the country’s political stability,” said Thomas J. Reese, S.J., the chairman of the USCIRF.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, known worldwide for their proselytizing activity, hold beliefs that mainstream Christian groups consider to be controversial. Beliefs, such as rejection of blood transfusions and rejection of military service, have led to clashes with the authorities in several countries.

The group was first registered in Russia in 1991. The crackdown on the group intensified after Russia changed its legal definition of “extremism” in 2006 to include groups that were not violent but described as “inciting religious discord.”

According to the new expanded definition, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are extremists.

As part of efforts to crackdown on the group, the authorities blocked their international website in Russia and fined a local chairman in 2010 for distributing “extremist literature.”

After the Russian government tried to ban the organization in 2004, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2010 that the ban violated the members’ rights of freedom of religious and association.

The latest ruling has parked concerns about freedom of religion in Russia.</s>Russia’s supreme court has banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.The court ordered the closure of the group’s Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted justice ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security”.Borisova also said Jehovah’s Witnesses’ opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian healthcare laws.(guardian)…[+]</s>Russia’s Supreme Court has ruled against the activities of the main center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, banning the organization from the country and seizing its assets.

The Supreme Court sustained a request by the Justice Ministry to consider the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Justice applied for an order to shut down the organization’s national headquarters near St. Petersburg.

Following the ruling, the representatives of the organization said that the group will appeal against the court’s decision, stressing that the organization is prepared to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

The judicial ruling has not yet taken legal effect. Should the organization lodge an appeal, the ruling will come into legal force when the appellate resolution is announced. Otherwise, the ruling will become final within 30 days.

In March, the activities of the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia – the largest Jehovah’s Witnesses group in the country, with some 175,000 adherents, were suspended by the authorities.

According to the Justice Ministry, the suspension came as a result of the group conducting “extremist activity.”</s>The Witnesses plan to appeal this decision.

After six days of hearings over the last two weeks, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the claim submitted by the Ministry of Justice to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and 395 Local Religious Organizations (LROs) used by Witnesses throughout Russia, according to a news release posted at jw.org. The ruling goes into effect immediately.

“We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity,” states Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. “We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible.”

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

(UPDATED at 12:21 a.m. Thursday, April 20) The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on Wednesday held the fifth day of hearings on a claim from the Ministry of Justice to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The aggressive actions by Russian authorities against the Witnesses over the past 10 years were summarized as the Court reviewed 43 volumes of documents submitted as case materials. The court reviewed 43 volumes of documents submitted as case materials.

During the review, the attorneys representing the Ministry of Justice could not specify a legal basis for targeting the Administrative Center for liquidation or any extremist action on the part of either the Administrative Center or any Local Religious Organizations (LROs) used by Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, according to a news release posted on the religion’s official website, jw.org.

Yury Toporov, one of the attorneys for the Administrative Center, noted to the court that a number of case materials include awards and letters of appreciation received by the Administrative Center from the government, documenting that the Administrative Center was previously recognized by authorities for positive contributions to society for several years.

It was also noted that the LROs make similar positive contributions in their communities.

Additionally, several volumes of case materials document that the Ministry of Justice has been inspecting LROs used by Witnesses in Russia since 2008 but did not find any extremist activity in the LROs, a point acknowledged by attorneys for the Ministry of Justice.

The court also allowed attorneys for the Administrative Center to include new evidence of raids on the religious services of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In March and April, law enforcement agencies disrupted these religious services and threatened those in attendance with criminal charges.

The court is expected to resume the hearing at 2 p.m. today.

(UPDATED at 10:58 p.m. Thursday, April 13) With a large number of observers in attendance, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation continued into its fourth day of hearings, considering a claim from the Ministry of Justice to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia.

The court announced a recess late in the afternoon, and the hearing will resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 19.

Attorneys for Jehovah’s Witnesses opened with arguments in defense of the Administrative Center, followed by a cross-examination from attorneys representing the Ministry of Justice.

Reacting to evidence presented by the defense, the judge requested the Ministry of Justice to identify the specific legal basis for liquidating Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Administrative Center. The attorneys for the Ministry of Justice were unable to provide a response to the judge’s request and other related questions, according to a news release posted at jw.org. The day’s proceedings concluded after hearing testimony from witnesses for both parties.

Next week, the court is expected to begin their review of the case materials.

Last Friday, the court heard more testimony and considered evidence before recessing until Wednesday. The break in the proceedings allowed Jehovah’s Witnesses to gather Tuesday night for their annual Memorial of Jesus’ death.

(UPDATED at 10:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6) The Russian Federation Supreme Court hearing on Thursday began with the Ministry of Justice arguing that it is necessary to ban all the legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses because lower court decisions have concluded that some engaged in extremist activity.

The judge then asked the representative of the Ministry of Justice how the actions of the eight impugned entities can justify action against the Administrative Center and all 395 entities in Russia.

The judge also asked how liquidating all the entities would affect the worship of the Witnesses, and he repeatedly asked how the Witnesses are a threat to public order and safety.

Lawyers for the defense also posed questions that exposed the intent of the Ministry of Justice to ban the religion of Jehovah’s Witnesses, not merely to liquidate their legal entities.

The hearing will reconvene at 10 a.m. Friday.

The Russian government is continuing its attempt to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation began consideration of a claim from the Ministry of Justice to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, spending seven hours in session.

The hearing continued Thursday with motions and oral arguments before the court announced a recess just after 5 p.m. local time. The court will reconvene at 10 a.m. Friday.

Russia’s Justice Ministry filed a case with the Supreme Court to declare the administrative center for Russia’s Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist organization on March 15.

The Witnesses filed a counterclaim with the court on March 30 against the Ministry of Justice.

On Wednesday, however, the counterclaim was dismissed by the court prior to the recess. The court also refused to allow experts to testify about the basis for the claim of the Ministry of Justice and refused to allow those who witnessed the falsification of evidence against local religious organizations of Jehovah’s Witnesses to testify.

The high-profile nature of the case is sparking coverage by international news outlets, including an article in Time magazine posted online on Tuesday (“Russian Supreme Court Considers Outlawing Jehovah’s Witness Worship”) and a front-page article in the print edition of The New York Times (“Pacifist, Christian and Threatened by Russian Ban as ‘Extremist’”) on Wednesday.

“We certainly hope that Russia’s Supreme Court will uphold the rights of our fellow believers in Russia to freely carry out their peaceful worship,” adds David A. Semonian, a spokesman at the Witnesses’ world headquarters in New York. “Millions of people around the world will be watching carefully to see how the case progresses and if Russia acts to protect its own law-abiding citizens who are Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Mark Sanderson, who is a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and who was present at the hearing, stated: “It is disconcerting that the Supreme Court dismissed or denied most motions filed by the Administrative Center. Representatives of many embassies and human rights organizations were present for this hearing. The world is watching.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world are anxiously awaiting the court’s ruling, concerned for their fellow believers in Russia.

“We’re concerned about what’s going to happen and what could happen to them,” said Doug Hardy, a spokesman for Spokane, Wash.-area Witnesses.

Hardy added, “If they are going to clamp down on us it could be they clamp down on other religious entities, too.”

Last week, millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses sent letters to Russian government and court officials, including President Vladimir Putin, expressing concern about the court motion. The church estimates it has 8 million members worldwide.

The Justice Ministry has accused the Witnesses of having extremist literature and beliefs. In Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible and other promotional materials are outlawed.

Russian Witnesses abide by this law and don’t have the literature in their Kingdom Halls, said Robert Warren, global spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

According to him, Russian government officials planted literature in the church’s administrative building shortly before a government inspection, thus prompting the claim.

On Wednesday, the Witnesses asked the court to hear testimony from Jehovah’s Witnesses who claimed they saw government officials planting the materials. The court did not allow those witnesses to testify.

Additionally, the Witnesses filed a counterclaim against the Ministry of Justice claiming the Witnesses were victims of political repression. The court dismissed that claim.

“It definitely presents a negative tone that seems to be characterizing the proceedings at this point,” Warren said.

If the court sides with the Ministry of Justice, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ administrative building in Moscow could be seized by the Russian government. Additionally, it could become illegal for Witnesses to meet in groups, advertise their faith or practice their faith.

Already in Russia the religion’s official website JW.org is blocked, and customs officials don’t allow Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bibles into the country.

“They don’t want us to even have places of worship to meet in,” Warren said. “They don’t want us to speak about our faith to others.”

The order has raised concerns about religious persecution from organizations around the world, including the United Nations, the Helsinki Commission and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

“If that is happening to us, if we’re being targeted then basic freedoms and rights are being targeted in Russia,” Warren said.

Warren said the Moscow courtroom, where the case was heard, was packed — something he doesn’t think Russian officials anticipated.

According to church estimates there are about 175,000 Witnesses in Russia. A 1997 Russian law established freedom of religion in the country, however Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism are considered traditional religions.

Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is the son of God, but do not believe in the Trinity. Their faith requires that they don’t get involved in political activity — including voting, military service, politics and political protesting. They do abide by local laws and customs as long as it doesn’t interfere with their faith.

Hardy believes this disregard for nationalism might be part of the reason Russian officials filed the claim.

“We are law-abiding citizens as far as it goes,” Hardy said. “But when it interferes with the dictates of what the Bible says, we’re going to stand up for our beliefs rather than what the law says.”

Hardy is sure if Russia rules against the Witnesses, they won’t abide by the ruling. For example, during the Soviet era most Jehovah’s Witnesses were sent to Siberian work camps.

“Well, it didn’t stop them (from worshiping) when they got to Siberia,” Warren said. “Hitler tried to stop us in Nazi Germany. That didn’t stop us either.”</s>Russia’s supreme court has banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.

The court ordered the closure of the group’s Russia headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted justice ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security”.



The Jehovah’s Witnesses claim more than 170,000 adherents in Russia. The group has come under increasing pressure over the past year.

Russian authorities have put several of the group’s publications on a list of banned extremist literature, and prosecutors have long cast it as an organisation that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives, a description the organisation says is false.</s>Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday banned Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating anywhere in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group.

The court ordered the closure of the group’s Russian headquarters and its 395 local chapters, as well as the seizure of its property.

The Interfax news agency on Thursday quoted Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova in court as saying that Jehovah’s Witnesses pose a threat to Russians.

“They pose a threat to the rights of citizens, public order and public security,” she told the court.

Borisova also said Jehovah’s Witnesses’ opposition to blood transfusions violates Russian health care laws.

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

Jehovah’s Witnesses said they would appeal the ruling.

Jehovah’s Witnesses claim more than 170,000 adherents in Russia. The group has come under increasing pressure over the past year, including a ban on distributing literature deemed to violate Russia’s anti-extremism laws.

Human Rights Watch criticized Thursday’s decision as an impediment to religious freedom in Russia.

“The Supreme Court’s ruling to shut down the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia is a terrible blow to freedom of religion and association in Russia,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The rights group also expressed concern that if the ruling takes effect, Jehovah’s Witnesses could face criminal prosecution and punishment ranging from fines to prison time.</s>The Supreme Court of Russian Federation ruled on April 20, 2017 that the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization should be closed down and no longer allowed to operate legally in Russia, Human Rights Watch said today. The ruling, which affects more than 100,000 Jehovah’s Witness worshippers across Russia.

“The Justice Ministry, which had petitioned the Supreme Court to close the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization, should withdraw the case and refrain from taking further measures that violate its obligations to respect the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization’s right to freedom of religion and to association.” – says the statement of the Human Rights Watch. The Jehovah’s Witnesses organization said it will appeal the ruling to the European Court of Human Rights.</s>"""""Russia has banned Jehovah's Witnesses after the Supreme Court ruled the Christian sect to be an "extremist" group.

"The Supreme Court has ruled to sustain the claim of Russia's ministry of justice and deem the 'Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia' organisation extremist, eliminate it and ban its activity in Russia," said judge Yuri Ivanenko.

"The property of the Jehovah's Witnesses organisation is to be confiscated to the state revenue."</s>Moscow - Russia's Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling banning Jehovah's Witnesses after the justice ministry called on it to dissolve the "extremist organisation".

Supreme Court judge Yury Ivanenko said Russia had decided to close down "the administrative centre of Jehovah's Witnesses and the local organisations in its fold and turn their property over to the Russian Federation."

The decision comes after the ministry said it had found signs of "extremist activity" within the organisation and requested that it be banned.

"They represent a threat to the rights of people, public order and public safety," Russian news agencies quoted justice ministry representative Svetlana Borisova as saying.

The group, which has 395 centres across Russia, has vowed to appeal the decision.

"I didn't expect that this could be possible in modern Russia, where the constitution guarantees freedom of religious practice."

Russia's Jehovah Witnesses have had several run-ins with law enforcement in recent years.

In January, the chair of the group's branch in the town of Dzerzhinsk was fined for having distributed material that authorities deem extremist, local media reported.

In 2004 Moscow dissolved a branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2010 that the move had violated the rights of freedom of religion and association.
The Supreme Court of Russia labels Jehovah's Witnesses as "extremists", effectively banning the religion.