The “sadistic treatment” was said to have taken place in Surgut, western Siberia Alamy Seven Jehovah’s Witnesses have said that they were stripped, suffocated and given electric shocks in the crotch with stun guns during an interrogation in Russia. The group’s headquarters in New York said yesterday that the “sadistic treatment” took place at the Investigative Committee’s office in the city of Surgut, western Siberia, last week. The Investigative Committee, the state organisation responsible for serious crime inquiries, denied the accusations of torture. There are an estimated 170,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. The group was designated extremist in the country and banned by the supreme court in 2017, putting it on a par with Islamic fanatics and neo-Nazi groups. Artem Kim, one of the men who claimed to have been tortured, said in a detailed complaint to prosecutors that…<doc-sep>(CNN) Human rights groups and religious freedom advocates are blasting a Russian court for sentencing a Danish Jehovah's Witness to six years in a penal colony, saying the charges of "religious extremism" are unwarranted and unjust. On Wednesday, Dennis Christensen was found guilty of violating a Russian law banning "the organization of a public or religious association ... or prohibition of activities in connection with extremist activities," according to TASS, Russia's state-run news agency. A district court in Oryol, in western Russia, sentenced Christensen to six years in a penal colony, according to TASS. Christensen's attorney says he will appeal the ruling. Christensen's sentencing is part of a campaign against Jehovah's Witnesses and other minority religions, religious freedom advocates say, as Russian Orthodox Christians seek to maintain their cultural dominance. In 2017, Russia's Supreme Court banned Jehovah's Witnesses as an "extremist organization." According to a spokesman for the religion, 120 Jehovah's Witnesses are facing criminal charges in Russia, with 24 in pretrial detention and 28 under house arrest. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she is "deeply concerned" by Christensen's sentencing. "The harsh sentence imposed on Christensen creates a dangerous precedent, and effectively criminalizes the right to freedom of religion or belief for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia," Bachelet said. Religious freedom advocates in the United States also expressed concern. "Dennis Christensen's conviction represents the continued deterioration of religious freedom in (President Vladimir) Putin's Russia," said Kristina Arriaga, vice chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom "Evidently, it's not enough for the state to brand peaceful groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses 'extremist'; it must also imprison their members." Last year, the commission called for Russia be designated a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act. The US State Department has also placed Russia on a watch list for "engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom." According to a US Commission on International Freedom report , the Russian government has "continued to target 'nontraditional' religious minorities, including Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientologists, with fines, detentions, and criminal charges under the pretext of combating extremism. Most notably, the Jehovah's Witnesses were banned outright, as was their translation of the Bible, and their followers persecuted nationwide." Putin sent mixed messages about the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses during a press conference in December. Asked why his government was going after a peaceful group, Putin dismissed such as a characterization as "complete nonsense." But he added, "We should not forget that our society does not consist solely of religious sects. Ninety percent of citizens of the Russian Federation or so consider themselves Orthodox Christians. ... We should treat representatives of all religions in the same way -- this is true, but still, it is also necessary to take into account the country and the society in which we live." In a statement, the European Union strongly condemned Christensen's conviction. "The European Union expects Mr. Christensen to be released immediately and unconditionally. Jehovah's Witnesses, as with all other religious groups, must be able to peacefully enjoy freedom of assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, as well as by Russia's international commitments and international human rights standards." Before the ban, there were about 170,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, according to group. Known for their door-to-door evangelizing and refusal to serve in the military, Jehovah's Witnesses were founded in the United States in the late 19th century. Christensen's group was "recognized as extremist" in 2016, according to TASS . A year later, he was detained and has been imprisoned for 622 days since, a Jehovah's Witness spokesman said. "The regional prosecutor's office clarified that the convict knew that Jehovah's Witnesses were prohibited, but he continued to hold meetings and distribute books and brochures," TASS reported. "Jehovah's Witnesses have a well-established international reputation for being peaceful, law-abiding citizen," said Paul Gillies, a spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses. "It is our hope that the Russian authorities will take this opportunity to correct the unjust decision to ban our activities, which has caused the imprisonment of our fellow believers." Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said on Twitter that he is "deeply concerned by sentencing of Dennis Christensen." "Again call on #Russia to respect freedom of religion. Danish MFA will continue to follow closely and assist Dennis Christensen should he decide to appeal," Samuelsen said, referring to Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Deeply concerned by sentencing of Dennis Christensen. Again call on #Russia to respect freedom of religion. Danish MFA will continue to follow closely and assist Dennis Christensen should he decide to appeal #dkpol — Anders Samuelsen (@anderssamuelsen) February 6, 2019<doc-sep>A Russian court on Friday found a Danish Jehovah’s Witness guilty of organizing a banned extremist group and sentenced him to six years in prison, Russian state media reported. The case has been condemned by rights groups as part of a broader crackdown on the religious group. Russia’s Supreme Court banned Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization in April 2017. About a month later, the police detained Dennis Christensen, a Danish member of the Christian denomination, during a prayer service in the southwestern city of Oryol. Mr. Christensen, who has lived in Russia since 1999, pleaded not guilty, saying he was exercising his right to religious freedom. He was sentenced to six years in prison, the state-run news agency Tass reported, citing Tatyana Tsukanova, a senior assistant to the prosecutor of the Orlov region. Paul Gillies, a spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, said in an emailed statement that Mr. Christensen had been convicted “merely for practicing his Christian faith.”<doc-sep>The movement is a Christian-based religious group which was founded in the United States in the late 1800s. It is best known by non-member for its door-to-door evangelical work in an attempt to recruit new members.<doc-sep>
Jehovah’s Witnesses, a U.S.-based religious denomination that Russia has branded extremist and banned, says that police in Russia's Khanty-Mansi region have tortured several members of the congregation. In a February 19 statement, the religious group said that at least seven of its adherents were "subjected to torture -- electric shocks, suffocation, and cruel beatings" by the Investigative Committee's officers in the city of Surgut, in northwestern Siberia, after they were detained on February 15 on extremism charges. The statement says that those detained refused to answer police questions about other members of the congregation and after the only legal representative left the interrogation room, the officers "tied the victims’ hands behind their backs, beat them, poured water on their naked bodies, and subjected them to electric shocks." "The torture lasted for several hours," the statement said. According to the statement, 19 members of the congregation were charged with the alleged organization of extremist activities and at least three of them remain behind bars. The released members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses turned to medical institutions to document bodily harm sustained during torture, the statement says, adding that the group will seek justice in court. The Investigative Committee rejected the Jehovah's Witnesses' statement. Homes Raided A committee spokesman in the Khanty-Mansi region, Oleg Menshikh, told the TASS news agency on February 20 that no law was violated during the interrogations. "Nobody tortured them. There was no physical or psychological pressure on them," TASS quoted Menshikh as saying. Police have started raiding the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in that region and in the region of Mordovia on February 7, a day after a Russian court convicted Dennis Christensen, a Danish member of the religious group, on an extremism charge and sentenced him to six years in prison in the western city of Oryol. Human rights organizations, the European Union, and United States officials have condemned Christensen’s conviction and called on Russia to respect freedom of religion. Christensen was arrested in Oryol in May 2017, a month after Russia's Supreme Court labeled the religious group an extremist organization and banned it. He was the first Jehovah’s Witness to be detained in Russia following the ban. Since then, dozens of other members of the group in different Russian regions have been detained and face similar extremism charges. With reporting by TASS