Isabella

Thanks, this is what I was looking for

útil

In the third jailing in Russian-occupied Crimea on "extremism" charges to punish the exercise of freedom of religion and belief, Jehovah's Witness Artyom Gerasimov was jailed for six years after a prosecutor appealed against an earlier fine. Jailed earlier were Muslim Renat Suleimanov for four years and Jehovah's Witness Sergei Filatov for six years. Like Suleimanov and Filatov, Gerasimov expects to be sent to a prison in Russia. For the third time, a court in Russian-occupied Crimea has jailed an individual on "extremism" charges to punish the exercise of freedom of religion or belief. After an appeal by the prosecutor, on 4 June Crimea's Supreme Court changed the punishment imposed on 35-year-old Artyom Gerasimov from a fine of two years' average wages to a six-year jail term. He was arrested in the courtroom. He was the second Crimean Jehovah's Witness to be jailed. The decision to make prisoner of conscience Gerasimov's punishment harsher without sending the case for a retrial is the first such instance in any Jehovah's Witness case in Crimea, or in Russia within its internationally recognised borders. The first such jailing for exercising freedom of religion and belief was Muslim prisoner of conscience Renat Suleimanov. In January 2019 a Simferopol court jailed him for four years on "extremism"-related charges for meeting openly in mosques with three friends to discuss their faith. Read more: http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2577

They do look like that. Were these the first release?

Patterson Happy Cows by Craig Carson

Today the Crimean Supreme Court sentenced Artem Gerasimov to six years in prison for his peaceful Christian worship as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. He was seeking acquittal from his original sentence by the Yalta City Court, which was a fine for 400,000 rubles. Today's ruling immediately came into force and Artem was taken into custody. Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses, states: "Today's ruling by the Crimean Supreme Court brings religious persecution to a new level of cruelty. Since the 2017 Russian Supreme Court's ruling that effectively banned Jehovah's Witnesses, this is the first time an appeal has resulted in a more severe punishment. This bleak development in Crimea is the latest example of Russia exporting its patently extreme religious intolerance. Human rights advocates across the globe have publicly criticized Russia for its baseless attack on Jehovah's Witnesses, internationally recognized as peaceful, societally responsible Christians. We hope that senior officials in Russia will soon correct the injustice being doled out in their local courts and that judges in Crimea will follow suit. " Artem is the second one of Jehovah's Witnesses to be imprisoned in Crimea under Russian law. Artem's new sentence now matches the sentence of Sergey Filatov, who was likewise convicted on March 5, 2020, but by the Dzhankoysky District Court. https://www.businessghana.com/site/news/general/214730/Crimean-Supreme-Court-Sentences-Jehovah-s-Witness-to-Six-Years-in-Prison

Rabbi Cohen stressed that Kazakhstan’s Jewish community maintains a mutually open and, respectful relationship with the Kazakh government. The government protects, to varying degrees, what authorities deem “traditional” religions, including Sunni Hanafi Islam, Russian Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Judaism. But the level of tolerance that Kazakhstani authorities show toward the Jewish community does not extend to all faiths in the country, said Felix Corley, the editor of Forum 18, a news service specializing in coverage of religious freedom. Corley cited Jehovah’s Witnesses as being among those who do not enjoy classification as being members of a “traditional” religion, and who regularly have experienced troubles with authorities. The group, along with other denominations known to proselytize and seek converts, has been subjected to intensified scrutiny and harassment since the adoption of religious legislation in 2011. According to Jarrod Lopes, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses world headquarters, there have been 20 incidents in which 37 Witnesses were detained over the past year in Kazakhstan. Corley explained that Jews are particularly tolerated by Kazakhstani leaders. “While in law, they have no greater rights than anyone else … in practice, they’re generally exempt from state harassment,” Corley said. https://eurasianet.org/post-soviet-immigration-strengthens-kazakhstans-jewish-community

Google rescinded offers for more than 2,000 people who had agreed to work as contractors or temps, The New York Times reported Friday. Last month, CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged to employees that hiring and investments would slow as the coronavirus pandemic created uncertainty for businesses across industries. Google’s reported decision to rescind offers from contractors and temp workers once again draws attention to a vast portion of the company’s workforce that does not enjoy the same benefits and protections of its full-time employees. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/29/google-said-to-rescind-job-offers-for-thousands-of-contractors-temps.html

I started watching Pluto a couple of days ago in my Samsung phone, has good resolution and it is in Spanish 🎉

A Russian-controlled ‘court’ in occupied Crimea has rejected the appeal brought by Serhiy Filatov, a 47-year-old Jehovah’s Witness from Dzhankoy, against his six-year prison sentence for practising his faith. Russia has now not only reinstated Soviet persecution of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but is breaching international law by applying such repressive measures on illegally occupied territory. The hearing before ‘judge’ Edward Belousov, of the Crimean High Court, was held on 26 May behind closed doors. This was due to restrictions over the pandemic but did mean that Filatov, who took part by video link from the SIZO [remand prison] was deprived of the chance to see his family and all those who would have wished to show their support. The closed hearing also makes it unclear whether Belousov made any pretence of examining the appeal. This seems unlikely since he upheld the manifestly wrongful six-year sentence in a medium security prison colony handed down on 5 March 2020 by ‘judge’ Maria Yermakova, from the Dzhankoy District Court. The sentence also includes a five-year ban on engaging in educational work involving public addresses or publications in the media or posting information in the media or Internet, as well as a one-year term of restricted liberty after the prison term. Filatov was found to have prayed, together with others, in his own home, which the Russian-controlled prosecutor and court chose to view as “undermining constitutional order and state security”. He was charged under Article 282.2 § 1 of Russia’s criminal code which punishes for something termed ‘organization of the activities of an extremist organization.” Russia treats the presumption of innocence with the same contempt it shows religious freedom, and Filatov was swiftly added to Russia’s notorious ‘list of extremists and terrorists’, with this bringing serious economic restrictions. He was not, however, held in detention, and was taken into custody after the sentence was announced on 5 March. He has been held at the Simferopol SIZO [remand prison], where the overcrowding, filth and unsanitary conditions are a danger to life and health. Now that the appeal has failed, he may be moved, in violation this time also of the European Court of Human Rights, to Russia. http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1590495374

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to regulate or shut down social media companies, one day after Twitter Inc. for the first time added a warning to some of his tweets prompting readers to fact-check the president's claims. Trump, without offering any evidence, reiterated his accusations of political bias by such technology platforms, tweeting: "Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen." Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-social-media-twitter-fact-check-1.5586285

Hi @Space Merchant, honestly I don't know 🤔 ... The congregation I attend does not allow JWs to wear beards so far

@admin did the Simpsons explained well? Because I understood it 😆

a Sección Primera de la Audiencia Provincial de Castellón ha condenado a cinco años de prisión como autor de un delito de homicidio en grado de tentativa a un hombre que intentó matar con un cuchillo de 17 centímetros de hoja a un compañero con el que compartía grupo religioso en l’Alcora (Castellón). La Sala le impone el pago de una indemnización de cerca de 20.000 euros por los días que tardó la víctima en curar de las lesiones que sufrió, los daños morales y los desperfectos sufridos en la vivienda del perjudicado, donde se produjo el ataque. El condenado no podrá acercarse ni comunicarse con el perjudicado durante cinco años, según ha informado el Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunitat Valenciana (TSJCV). La relación del condenado y la víctima se enfrió cuando se conoció la homosexualidad del agresor Los dos hombres pertenecían a una congregación de Testigos de Jehová de l’Alcora, cuyos responsables habían encargado a la víctima que ayudara al condenado, quien acababa de llegar a la comunidad. Por ello iniciaron una relación de amistad que se enfrió cuando quedó manifiesta la homosexualidad del agresor, circunstancia mal vista entre los miembros de la comunidad a la que pertenecían. El 26 de noviembre de 2017, después de que ambos asistieran a un servicio religioso en su localidad, el condenado fue a casa de la víctima, a quien había pedido el favor de que le llevara en coche hasta Vila-real. Una vez en el domicilio, el agresor sacó un cuchillo de 17 centímetros de hoja que llevaba camuflado en el interior de la gabardina y se lo intentó clavar en el pecho a su compañero después de decirle: «Me siento como Caín». La víctima agarró con la mano la hoja del cuchillo e intentó defenderse. Ambos forcejearon hasta que llegaron a la cocina de la casa, donde el agresor le golpeó con una olla y con una botella de vino. En un momento de la pelea, el perjudicado consiguió salir a la galería de la casa, desde donde se tiró de cabeza a la terraza de los vecinos del piso de abajo. Como consecuencia de la agresión, la víctima sufrió múltiples heridas en la cabeza y la cara, se rompió un dedo de la mano derecha y se lesionó tres tendones, de los que tuvo que ser operado. Tardó un total de 288 días en curarse. La sentencia no es firme y puede recurrirse ante la Sala de lo Civil y Penal del TSJCV. https://www.elindependiente.com/sociedad/2020/05/25/cinco-anos-de-carcel-para-un-testigo-de-jehova-que-trato-de-asesinar-a-otro-me-siento-como-cain/

Perlas 25 de Mayo 2020.pdf

Australia's western coast is being battered by a huge storm, with strong winds buffeting the main city of Perth. Torrential rains and waves of up to eight metres (26ft) are forecast in some areas. The severe weather is the result of the remnants of tropical cyclone Mangga interacting with a cold front, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. A senior official in the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said it would be a "once-in-a-decade" storm. Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-52787152 REUTERS/ EDWIN VAN BRUGGEN

Martín Correa (29) vive en Florencia, Italia, donde este sábado se casó con su con su novia italiana Ester (23). Por el aislamiento que impone la pandemia del coronavirus en el mundo, la celebración no fue como la planearon, pero no por ello dejó de ser especial; e inolvidable. En la boda estuvo presente su hermano Lucas (30), quien también vive en Italia, pero sus papás Ariel y María Inés no pudieron estar y siguieron tan importante acontecimiento a través de la plataforma Zoom. "Estas son situaciones inmanejables, exceden lo que uno planificó durante mucho tiempo", dijo a LA VOZ DE SAN JUSTO el papá del novio, Ariel. "Los chicos suspendieron su casamiento que era el 21 de abril y lo iban a postergar de nuevo, pero les dijimos que tenían que cumplir su sueño y sus proyectos", siguió. Distinto e inolvidable Aunque al casamiento concurrieron solo 9 personas, fueron muchas otras las que se conectaron a través de la plataforma virtual para seguir el momento a momento del otro lado de la pantalla. "Fue algo nuevo para todos porque los chicos pensaron muy bien todo el evento para que sea digno de ver y disfrutar y aunque fue a través de una pantalla, todos se quedaron las dos horas que duró la trasmisión prendidos a ella", explicó Correa. Los chicos son Testigos de Jehová por lo que "primero se realizó una conferencia bíblica, luego el ministro le tomó los votos y fue el encargado de la libreta de matrimonio. Para consagrar el momento, los novios bailaron el vals y luego Martín con su flamante esposa junto a Lucas y su mujer Luci, bailaron una canción de cuarteto", narró.

“Detainees in Eritrea are at great risk of contracting infectious diseases because of the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions they are being held in,” said Deprose Muchena. At the Mai Serwa Asmera Flowers facility, in reality a forced labour camp where Jehovah’s Witnesses and other detainees are forced to work on flower farms, there are no toilets for detainees. All 700 of them, both men and women, relieve themselves out in the open. At Mai Serwa Maximum Security prison, there are only 20 toilets for 500 detainees. In Adi Abeyito, detainees can relieve themselves only twice daily in toilets located outside the compound. The prison has toilets within its grounds reserved for use in the rainy season or extraordinary circumstances such as suspected strikes or prison breaks. In 2015, detainees raised money and built a toilet in each detention hall to cater for the needs of the sick, elderly or those with disabilities. No social distance The four prisons are extremely congested; Adi Abeyito holds more than four times its capacity of 800 people, Ala prison holding about triple its capacity of 1,200 people while Mai Serwa has more than double its 230-person capacity. The vast majority have never been formally charged or brought to court and do not know when, or if, their detention will end. They are held in spaces ranging from 2x2m cells for solitary confinement at the Mai Serwa Maximum prison, to shipping containers holding more than 20 detainees, and halls measuring up to 10x20m. Detainees generally take turns to sleep on bare floors because beds or mattresses are not allowed. Read more: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/05/eritrea-detainees-in-overcrowded-and-unsanitary-conditions-defenceless-against-covid19/

Asesinato De Pareja De Testigos De Jehová Fue Por Una Deuda 20 mayo, 2020 admin Comentarios desactivadosen Asesinato de pareja de testigos de Jehová fue por una deuda Ligia Pérez Policialmente fue resuelto el caso de la pareja de testigos de jehová que asesinaron y enterraron en el municipio Valencia, luego de que funcionarios del Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas (Cicpc) detuvieron a los asesinos. Los aprehendidos fueron identificados como Liborio Keny Morales Rodríguez de 37 años, Carlos Esneider Sánchez Ojeda de 29, Joelvis José Vásquez Aular de 26 y Luis Manuel Sarmiento Gelvis de 26. El comisario general del Cicpc, Wilmer Rivera, indicó en su cuenta de instagram que tras recibir una denuncia sobre la desaparición de la pareja, una comisión de la subdelegación Valencia empezó a investigar el caso. Luego de diversas pesquisas, los detectives realizaron el hallazgo de los cadáveres enterrados en la fábrica textil Ashley situada en el barrio Bello Monte II, la cual era propiedad de Morales y Sánchez. Una comisión del Eje Contra Homicidios efectuó investigaciones y entrevistas a testigos, las cuales arrojaron que Morales y Sánchez habían citado en el lugar a los testigos de jehová para cobrarles un dinero de un contrato textil, pero sostuvieron una discusión acalorada y después de varios minutos los individuos los cayeron a golpes y los estrangularon hasta causarles la muerte. Tras cometer el crimen procedieron a enterrar los cuerpos en la parte de atrás de la fábrica. Mientras ocurrían los hechos, Vásquez y Sarmiento se llevaron una moto del sitio, por lo que el Cicpc le siguió la pista al vehículo y arrestó a los hombres por aprovechamiento de cosas provenientes del delito. http://lacalle.com.ve/2020/05/20/asesinato-de-pareja-de-testigos-de-jehova-fue-por-una-deuda/

Full list of 93 people currently on trial for exercising the right to freedom of religion and belief as Jehovah's Witnesses. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has adopted a wide-ranging Opinion condemning the "ever-growing number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia who have been arrested, detained and charged with criminal activity on the basis of mere exercise of freedom of religion". Three years after the Supreme Court ordered the liquidation as "extremist" of all Jehovah's Witness associations in April 2017, 93 people are on trial on charges of "continuing the activities of a banned extremist organisation" for exercising the right to freedom of religion and belief. During the coronavirus pandemic fewer raids have been made on homes, but have not stopped. Demonstrator protests against the jailing of Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen, St Petersburg, November 2019 Tatyana Voltskaya (RFE/RL) On 1 May 2020, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted a wide-ranging Opinion condemning the raids, arrests, detention and trials of 18 Jehovah's Witnesses, stating it "wishes to emphasize that none of them should have been arrested and held in pre-trial detention and no trial of any of them should take or should have taken place" (see below and forthcoming F18News article). The Working Group noted that the 18 "are part of now ever-growing number of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia who have been arrested, detained and charged with criminal activity on the basis of mere exercise of freedom of religion, a right protected by article 18 of the Covenant" (see below and forthcoming F18News article). Court proceedings can be lengthy, and property – such as cars or money – can be seized as surety for any subsequent fines. Employers have fired at least 18 people from their jobs under pressure from state agencies, while other Jehovah's Witnesses are pressured to resign "of their own free will" (see below). Investigators have also had more than 200 Jehovah's Witnesses' bank accounts blocked, and Jehovah's Witnesses then often encounter problems registering for benefits, buying phone sim cards, and registering and insuring cars (see below). At least 20 of the 93 people on trial are in their sixties, seventies or eighties. Three of the 93 are currently known to be in detention, despite the risk of coronavirus infection (see below). Stress relating to the raids and prosecutions is said to have been a factor in the deaths of a 64-year-old and a 61-year-old Jehovah's Witness, both of whom faced trial (see below). In another case, the FSB security service apparently forced the treatment being given to a Jehovah's Witness in an Ulyanovsk intensive care unit to be stopped (see below). Jehovah's Witnesses and others in both pre-trial detention and in prisons also face the risk of being tortured. No officials accused in three cases of torture of individuals detained for exercising freedom of religion or belief appear to have been arrested or put on criminal trial, against Russia's legally binding international obligations (see below). The Russian authorities have also stripped Russian citizenship from three individuals convicted of exercising freedom of religion and belief, one Muslim in 2019 and two Jehovah's Witnesses in 2020. None of the three appears to be a citizen of any other country (see forthcoming F18News article). A full list is below of those facing criminal prosecution for "continuing the activities of a banned extremist organisation" following the 2017 Supreme Court ban on Jehovah's Witnesses whose cases have reached court for trial. http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2573

On May 6, 2020, the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention prepared a decision concerning 18 believers in Russia. The Group considers the cases brought against them to be unlawful, urges authorities to immediately release those arrested, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, and to “take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of their rights.” The authoritative UN body considered the complaint of eighteen Russian believers from Volgograd, Kemerovo, Smolensk, Penza, Perm and Novozybkov. Ten of them were arrested and detained in the pre-trial detention center: Andrey Magliv, Igor Yegozaryan, Ruslan Korolev, Vladimir Kulyasov, Valery Rogozin, Valery Shalev, Tatiana Shamsheva, Olga Silayeva, Alexander Solovyov and Denis Timoshin. According to 15-page decision No. 10/2020, none of the cases examined had a basis for criminal prosecution and they should all be closed immediately. The cases were brought "only because [the accused] peacefully practised their religious beliefs, including carrying religious texts and the Bible, gathered together in worship services with fellow believers" (para. 67). Paragraph 71 of the document states: "All 18 people ... were accused of various forms of 'extremist activity. However, in the Working Group's opinion, none of the activities described can be interpreted as such. Furthermore, no information has been submitted to the Working Group and the Working Group itself cannot establish any reasons that might justify restricting the rights of the 18 individuals concerned under article 18 of the [International] Covenant [on Civil and Political Rights]. The Working Group considers that all the activities in which they participated were a peaceful way of exercising the right to freedom of religion in accordance with article 18 of the Covenant. Such activities were the only basis for the detention and trial of all 18 individuals". Paragraph 80 stresses that "the actions of the 18 named individuals were peaceful, and there is no evidence that any of them, or any of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia at all, have ever resorted to violence or called others to violence". The decision repeats that there is a "systematic and institutionalized persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses" in Russia (clause 78). The same wording was used in the decision of 1 October 2019 concerning Vladimir Alushkin of Penza and in the decision of 3 May 2019 concerning Dmitry Mikhailov of Shuia (Ivanovo Region). Thus, this is the third opinion of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in relation to Russian Jehovah's Witnesses. In all cases the UN representatives rejected the connection of Jehovah's Witnesses with extremism. The Working Group also calls for the release from detention of those detained in pretrial detention facilities, as there is a high risk of COVID-19 contamination with limited medical assistance (para. 84). In paragraph 85, the Working Group calls for "a full and independent investigation into the circumstances of the arbitrary deprivation of liberty" of believers and "to take appropriate action against those responsible". The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is the body designed to investigate cases of detention that are not in conformity with the international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments. The Working Group is entitled to receive information from the authorities and non-governmental organizations and to meet with detainees and their families in order to establish the facts. The Working Group presents its findings and recommendations to Governments as well as to the United Nations Human Rights Council. Although the decisions of the Working Group are not binding on States, they may contribute to weakening the position of the authorities in a context of wide international publicity. According to the legal position of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation as expressed in Decision No. 1276-O of 9 June 2015, the Russian Federation, as a State governed by the rule of law, cannot ignore, without avoiding the legal consequences, the decision of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention containing conclusions on the arbitrary detention and criminal prosecution of citizens. https://jw-russia.org/news/2020/05/11.html

Of the 87 Jehovah's Witnesses on trial in 39 cases for "continuing the activities of a banned extremist organisation" for exercising freedom of religion or belief, 85-year-old Yelena Zayshchuk is the oldest. Five fellow defendants in her case are in their sixties or seventies. All face up to six years' imprisonment if convicted. Two defendants in their sixties died in April before trials began. At least 18 of the 87 Jehovah's Witnesses on trial on charges of "continuing the activities of a banned extremist organisation" for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief are in their sixties, seventies or eighties. Another defendant died in Kirov in April shortly before the first full hearing was due in his trial. Another man died in Smolensk in April after investigators submitted the case against him to prosecutors and before it reached court. Both those who died were in their sixties. The oldest defendant is 85-year-old Yelena Zayshchuk, whom the FSB security service took in for questioning after raiding her home in Vladivostok in April 2018. Her family "do not understand why they are persecuting an elderly and sick person who has done nothing wrong to anyone", Jehovah's Witnesses commented (see below). Among the other six on trial with Zayshchuk is Nina Purge, who is due to be 80 on 19 June. Four of the other defendants are women in their sixties or seventies. The Judge has sent the case back to prosecutors (see below). Yury Geraskov, who died in Kirov at the age of 64, had not spent any time in detention, but "stress connected with persecution for his faith had negatively affected Yury's health", Jehovah's Witnesses noted (see below). Viktor Malkov, who died in Smolensk at the age of 61, had spent eight months in detention and nearly four months under house arrest. He had suffered from coronary heart disease and kidney problems. "Viktor's health was largely influenced by poor conditions in pre-trial detention centres and the stress associated with criminal prosecution", Jehovah's Witnesses noted (see below). Sergey Mysin is on trial in Ulyanovsk despite serious health concerns. Jehovah's Witnesses say he was discharged early from intensive care in October 2019 after FSB security service officers went to the hospital to insist on his treatment being stopped. The Ulyanovsk Region FSB refused to answer any questions from Forum 18 on the incident (see below). Two of the other defendants are men who have already been convicted in another, overlapping trial (see below). Despite the coronavirus pandemic, there is no sign of early release, however, for those Jehovah's Witnesses currently in pre-trial detention. Several are worried about the danger of contracting the disease (see below). The Moscow-based Public Verdict human rights group warns of poor conditions in Russian prisons, such as "overcrowding, poor ventilation, lack of medical staff, poor medical care, and serious health problems, including chronic conditions and lowered immunity among inmates and staff alike" (see below). Nina Purge Read full article: http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2571