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bruceq

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  1. FROM RADIO FREE EUROPE: Prominent Russian Punk-Rocker Defects To U.S. Over Jehovah's Witnesses Ban July 31, 2017 13:04 GMT Russian musician Fyodor Chistyakov (file photo) Prominent Russian punk-rocker Fyodor Chistyakov says he has decided not to return from the United States, citing Russia's new ban on the Jehovah’s Witnesses. A member of the religous denomination since the mid-1990s, Chistyakov told Novaya Gazeta in a telephone interview from New York published on July 31 that he "has no other choice" than to stay in the United States. "I cannot openly follow my religion [in Russia] now. And that is a trauma itself even when I am not in jail, although incarcerations are taking place already," he was quoted as saying. Chistyakov, who is known as Dyadya Fyodor (Uncle Fyodor) and has led the groups Nol (Zero) and the Fyodor Chistyakov Band, has been on tour in the United States for several months. The Russian Supreme Court ruled in April that the Jehovah's Witnesses were an extremist organization and prohibited them from operating in Russia. The court upheld the ruling on appeal in July. Freedom of religion is formally guaranteed in Russia but legislation sets out Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism as the country's four traditional religions, and smaller denominations frequently face discrimination. In recent years, there have been a growing number of reports of worshippers at Jehovah's Witnesses congregations being targeted for harassment. A 2009 documentary called Beware: Jehovah’s Witnesses branded Chistyakov "a brainwashed sectarian." Nol was popular in the Soviet Union, and then in its former republics, in the late 1980s and the 1990s. With reporting by Novaya Gazeta https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-punk-chistyakov-defects-u-s-jehovah-witnesses/28650645.html
  2. EUROPEAN UNION euoffice@osce.org  eeas.europa.eu/delegations/vienna  PAGE 1/1 OSCE Permanent Council No 1155 Vienna, 20 July 2017 EU statement on the upheld ban of activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia The Russian Supreme Court on 17 July upheld its previous decision to liquidate all legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, terminate their activity and confiscate their property, alleging "extremist activity". The decision confirms the ban on the peaceful worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the country. This ban has already resulted in cases of criminal prosecutions against Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as police raids on their prayer halls. It has contributed to an atmosphere of hatred and stigmatization, which has led to arson attacks and other forms of harassment. Jehovah’s Witnesses, like all other members of 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 to international human rights standards through its membership of the OSCE and the Council of Europe. OSCE Participating States have on several occasions, including at the Kyiv Ministerial Council in 2013, emphasized the link between security and full respect for the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief. The Candidate Countries the FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA*, MONTENEGRO* and ALBANIA*, the Country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and Potential Candidate BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA, and the EFTA countries ICELAND and NORWAY, members of the European Economic Area, as well as UKRAINE, GEORGIA, SAN MARINO, AUSTRALIA and CANADA align themselves with this statement. * The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process. http://www.osce.org/permanent-council/333051?download=true
  3. He called me from New York and said: "I'm probably staying here." The news is shocking. The last thing you could expect from a person who sang (and sings): "I was born and grew up on Lenin Street". It's hard to imagine music more Russian than the one that Zero played, and Chistyakov continues to play. A brilliant album "No fools" and a few very strong singles have just come out, he has traveled around the country with concerts, he is at the peak of his form, he is finally all right after twenty years of depression and setbacks. So from what to run (and this is the escape)? Photo from the archive of Fedor Chistyakov ... The fact that Chistyakov is a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, an organization that has just been recognized as extremist, knew everything, but did not attach importance. It was believed that the rock star has such a fad. Prince was also a Witness. And Madonna is a Kabbalist. And Tom Cruise is a Scientologist ... However, Fedor, although he never spoke about his religion at concerts and very rarely in an interview, takes her seriously. This is not a fad, this is something for which he is ready to fight. "Witnesses" appeared in his life in the 90's, during the most difficult period. He just served an assassination attempt, went through a psychiatric hospital and was in a terrible state, on the verge of suicide. Now he does not drink, does not smoke and does not sing his old songs, where drugs are mentioned. But at the same time he did not lose the rock-n-roll drive, at the concerts he ignites in a way that few people can now. You can treat the Witnesses differently, but they rescued him, Fedor Chistyakov. Pressure on the "Witnesses" went for a long time. In 2004, the Moscow court dismissed the Moscow community. In 2011, several criminal cases were opened. And in 2009, the NTV channel showed the film: "Watch out: Jehovah's Witnesses". In addition to the attack on the Witnesses, there was a run-in and personally on Chistyakov. Televischiki represented him in the image of a zombified and seduced sectarian, which is not true by one percent. This can be confirmed by anyone who has been to Fedor's concerts and listened to his recent recordings. The zombies do not sing like that. The conclusion from the program was clear: look, the murderer and the addict preach the Bible! They, probably, are all like that. The act is sneaky, whatever one may say, but Chistyakov then restrained himself. He is generally patient, his life has been broken and continues to break, like few people, one must have a strong character in order to survive and not go insane in his circumstances. As the campaign around the Witnesses unfolded, he became gloomy, nervous, but he waited. There were weak chances that it would cost. Now there are no such chances. Since July, his co-religionists and he is outside the law. "You can regard this interview as my official statement on leaving the country," Fyodor said. "I just had no choice." - I was not going to emigrate. There are people who for years try to get a green card or somehow get to America. And I never had any thoughts of such, nor of the possibilities. I firmly settled in place, I am already fifty, where to go? Besides, right now everything is developing very well, as a musician I am on the rise: a good band, an established tour system, one after the other albums are out. And so we flew with a tour in the US. And on the eve of the trial, the result of which was the ban of the Witnesses. For me it was a shock. The likelihood that I will not return from the American tour started to increase strongly. And on July 17, when they rejected the appeal, I made the final decision. - What does this prohibition mean to you personally? - First and foremost: I can not openly profess my religion. This in itself is a trauma, even if you are not being put, but there are already plantings. In Orel, for example, they took and imprisoned a citizen of Denmark. Russians are not enough for them, they decided to wet it so that the ears rang. There are options for punishment: prison, forced labor, fine. If a person is fined 100,000, and he has a salary of 20, what should he do? After that, by the way, they can plant. "Such a situation makes any creative activity meaningless. What's the point, if tomorrow can come for you? " And musical activity is connected with long-term investments. I invest my personal funds in the project, my colleagues and investors are investing. I take on very serious obligations. Concerts are planned for six months, and I have no right to even get sick, I have to play live or dead. But how to work if you can be picked up at any moment? Then you have to change your profession, but I do not want to, I still have many plans. Last year, my spies were visited by searches of special services. Laptops, computers, hard disks were taken to find evidence of extremism. I was very worried about my home studio. It is absolutely inconceivable that my achievements are carried to an unknown place. So my move is not connected with the fact that I allegedly do not like Russia and sold to the Americans. This is a forced measure aimed at preventing me from disappearing as a creative unit. There was no other way out. "And so you left." What will happen to the band "Fedor Chistyakov Band"? Is the project closed? - In no case. Only the place of my physical stay has changed, nothing changes anymore. At least, I hope so. Now we are reshaping the schedules of tours taking into account the fact that I'm flying to them from America. In the near future the bandback of the group "Zero" - November 18, Moscow, "Izvestia Hall." If there is no force majeure, everything will be done. And then the recording of the new album, the material is written, you have to work with it. In addition, an American project is planned, with which I will be speaking, a contract has already been signed. - Do you plan on singing in English? "I'm afraid I will not succeed." Russian language, Russian thinking, Russian mentality with the move does not disappear anywhere. This is not the clothes that he took off, put on another and everything is okay. I remain the same as I was, I am still worried about things that are happening in Russia. And of course, I'm focused on the Russian public. But there is still an emigrant audience, it is not very large, but it is. I live in the area of New York, where on the street constantly hear Russian speech. And it's not even Brighton. - The song from your new single "Time to Live" begins with the words: "There is nothing to do, nothing to do, nothing to do, only to run ..." Just about running away. Coincidence or did you plan? - Coincidence, I was surprised to him. This is an old song "Zero", it did not have time to finish it in 1992, I do not remember what I meant at the time. Probably, flight from a difficult life situation, but not emigration exactly. We recorded it now together with Nichols, with whom "Zero" started sometime, it is possible with good conscience to consider this record as the new work of "Zero". https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/07/31/73296-pochemu-fedor-chistyakov-pokinul-rossiyu
  4. Government being Urged to Dissolve Jehovah’s Witnesses in Indonesia Posted On 27 Jul 2017 By : Leo Jegho Its teachings contravene the state ideology Pancasila and the group’s followers do not respect the Indonesian national flag. Political observer Boni Hargens. (Photo source: Actual.com) Jakarta, GIVnews.com – A Catholic political observer has urged the government to dissolve Jehovah’s Witnesses in Indonesia, claiming that the Christian denomination’s teachings contravene state ideology Pancasila like the recently dissolved Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI). Boni Hargens said the nationalism spirit of Jehovah’s followers is doubtful. They do not respect Indonesia’s ‘Red-and-White’ national flag, he said in a written statement received by the media on Tuesday (25/7) as reported by Antaranews.com. “They hold that respecting the national flag is prohibited by their holy book,” said Boni Hargens, who teaches political science at Universitas Indonesia in Depok and took an active part in public protests. The outspoken Boni Hargens had previously aired a similar demand to the authorities shortly after President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo signed a week ago a Regulation in a Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 2 Year 2017, which effectively dissolved HTI. Widely known as a radical organization and a part of the international Hizbut Tahir, HTI aims to turn Indonesia into an Islamic caliphate. In Indonesia, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are known through its followers who fearlessly and aggressively proselytize at public places. Muslims and the majority of Christians in Indonesia were said to dislike Jehovah’s Witnesses, calling it an ‘aberrant’ Christian denomination. Perppu No. 1 Year 2017 is aimed to crush radical mass organizations in the predominantly Muslim Indonesia. The issuing of the law amid widespread fear of radical terrorism. http://www.globalindonesianvoices.com/30821/government-being-urged-to-dissolve-jehovahs-witnesses-in-indonesia/
  5. Jehovah's Witnesses' translation of Bible goes to court Breaking News: HEARING OF CASE ABOUT "EXTREMISM" OF THE BIBLE IN JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES' TRANSLATION IN VYBORG POSTPONED TO 9 AUGUST Portal-Credo.Ru, 28 July 2017 The notorious proceedings in the case for finding the Bible in the translation of the Jehovah's Witnesses to be "extremist material" was resumed on 28 July in the Vyborg city court, a Portal-Credo.Ru correspondent reports. Several minutes after the start of the session, the hearing was postponed because of inadequate notification of one of the sides in the administrative case, Rain LLC. The lawyer for the respondent petitioned for the postponement. At the same time, the court refused to grant another petition from the respondent, regarding providing a large room for the trial. Because of this, only seven observers were permitted into the session. The next hearing on the case will occur on 9 August at 9:30, Moscow time. (tr. by PDS, posted 28 July 2017) THE BIBLE AS EXTREMISM Critical moment in the case for finding Jehovah's Witnesses' translation of Bible to be extremist by Evgenii Ikhlov Kasparov.Ru, 28 July 2017 As is known, on 26 April 2016 the Vyborg city court of Leningrad province began consideration of a lawsuit by the Leningrad-Finland transport prosecutor's office for finding publications of the Jehovah's Witnesses (who are, as is known, banned by the Supreme Court on the territory of the RF) that were seized by Vyborg customs to be extremist. Among them is the "Sacred Scripture in the Translation of the New World" (published in 2007), that is, the Bible in the Jehovah's Witnesses' Russian translation. At the 26 April session, the court made the decision to order a religious studies expert analysis and to recess the proceedings on the case until the announcement of its results. The edition of the Bible was detained by customs in July 2015, and in February 2016 the prosecutor's office sent to the court a lawsuit for finding the publication extremist. And now on 28 July the conclusion of the Moscow "Center for Socio-Cultural Expert Analysis" (110 pages with appendices), which was made from August 2016 to late May 2017 and gave an affirmative answer to the inquiry about extremism, is being presented to the court. The conclusion was prepared by two political scientists! It was confirmed by the center's director, a teacher of English! Acquaintance with the expert analysis shows that its authors were struck, in a rather childish way, by the eschatological judgment of the world and of the opponents of the new faith, which was characteristic of the first generations of Christians and also 12 to 14 centuries later of the protestants (and yet another half century later, of the Old Believers). Such is the "healthy" ancient Roman view of the emergence of Christianity. The experts do not like the divergence from the Synodal translation (an analytical translation made as a Russian literary translation from an English original that is obviously based on the King James Bible), like, for example, that "stauros" is rendered as "torture stake"* and not the customary "cross." And then I recalled that 508 years ago, in August 1509, Emperor Maximilian instructed the renegade Johannes Pfefferkorn to prepare a rationale for destroying the Talmud. And at that time the flower of contemporary humanist thought—Johann Reuchlin, Ulrich von Hutten (who wrote a pamphlet, "Letters of Obscure Men," in defense of Reuchlin), Erasmus of Rotterdam, and even Martin Luther, who at the time was a philo-semite—launched such a campaign that Pope Leo X lifted the ban from the Talmud and even ordered its translation into Latin, as a resource to aid Christians, and its widespread publication. From this struggle for freedom of acquaintance with Jewish theology there also began the philosophical preparation of the Reformation. But such will not be in our country. The liberal community has not rallied in the name of defense of the right to read new translations of the Bible. *"Stauros" is in Greek simply a post. But "torture stake" better renders the semantics of "tree for hanging": Deut. 21.23: "His body shall not hang overnight on a tree, but you shall bury him that day, for [everyone] who hangs [on a tree] is cursed by God, and you shall not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance." (tr. b PDS, posted 28 July 2017 TRIAL OF THE BIBLE TO BE RENEWED IN VYBORG ON 28 JULY Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 27 July 2017 On 28 July 2017 in the Vyborg city court (Leningrad province) hearings will be resumed in the lawsuit of the Leningrad-Finland transport prosecutor's office for finding the canonical Bible, seized at customs from Jehovah's Witnesses, to be "extremist material." The court received an "expert analysis," whose authors criticize this edition from the position of Orthodox apologetics and they ascribe to it extremist contents! This "expert analysis" was conducted by a teacher, Natalia Kriukova, the author of about 50 similar conclusions against Jehovah's Witnesses, and also her constant co-authors: an Orthodox religious studies scholar, V. Kotelnikov, and a translator from English, A. Tarasov. Earlier, the Investigative Committee of the RF was given a declaration of opening a criminal case against Kriukova for giving false expert conclusions (article 307 of the Criminal Code of the RF). For example, on the basis of conclusions by said "expert," two believers in suburban Moscow were subjected to unjust criminal prosecution for many years. The actions of N. Kriukova with respect to her assessment of the Bible seized from the Jehovah's Witnesses are significant. In her conclusion of 6 June 2017, Kriukova, trying to prove that this edition is not a Bible, reports: "The book 'Sacred Scripture—New World Translation' lacks the titles 'Old Testament' and 'New Testament,' and these divisions are called respectively 'Jewish-Aramaic Scriptures' and 'Christian Greek Scriptures.' And as an argument for the 'extremist' nature of the material presented for expert analysis, the authors of the conclusion cite the following quotation no fewer than 12 times: 'God rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and the neighboring city of Gomorrah. All their wicked residents died." The attempt to find the Bible itself to be extremist seems to be implausible against the background of the fact that in the autumn of 2015 the president of Russia promoted and signed a law protecting Sacred Scripture, including the Bible, from the reach of anti-extremism legislation. Nevertheless, the prosecutor's lawsuit is a fait accompli. On Friday, 28 July 2017, the court may for the first time in history find the canonical Bible to be "extremist material." The decision in this case may affect very many people, since the Bible is a book respected and widespread in Russia. There are no fewer than 50 different translations of the whole Bible or parts thereof in the Russian language. The lawsuit of the prosecutor's office has already evoked unanimous condemnation from rights activists and religious studies scholars. (tr. by PDS, posted 28 July 2017) A SECULAR STATE FOR "OUR OWN": TRIAL OF BIBLE RENEWED IN VYBORG by Anton Chivchalov for Portal-Credo.Ru, 26 July 2017 On 28 July in Vyborg one of the most ridiculous judicial proceedings in the history of Russian jurisprudence will be resumed, a trial which cannot occur in a secular state, a trial of a translation of the Bible. On the basis of a lawsuit of the Leningrad-Finland transport prosecutor, the Vyborg city court is trying to establish the extent to which the Bible in the Jehovah's Witnesses' edition (full name: "Sacred Scripture—New World Translation") correctly renders God's Word, Revelation, and also whether it is "extremist." It is this trial in which an expert for the prosecution, Natalia Kriukova (by education a mathematician), has already stated that the Bible "taken as a book, ceases to be the Bible, which it becomes only in the Church," and the Jehovah's Witnesses' Bible "permits transmitting some other system of doctrinal and ethical texts, distinguished from the Christian tradition." The prosecution is sending to society a clear signal: society may read only books that 'transmit' correct traditions, and none others. Indeed, in 2015 the State Duma adopted a law forbidding the finding of sacred scriptures of principal religions to be "extremist material." Therefore the prosecutor's office is trying by all its powers to prove that the Jehovah Witnesses' Bible is not a Bible but a simple book. Consequently, it may be (and must be) declared "extremist." In the opinion of the Sova Center for News and Analysis, "The New World Translation does not contain signs of extremism," and it is very difficult to imagine how a translation of the Bible, however (theoretically) bad, may be "extremist." But the first hearings in Vyborg have already shown that logic and law are absent in this court. The sides of the proceedings are discussing the Bible, holy fathers, and church statutes under the astonished gazes of foreign observers. For the hearing of 28 July, the prosecutor's office has prepared a new, intensive expert analysis of the New World Translation which is simply shocking in its illiteracy and outright mockery of law of a secular state. In a sort of "secular" and "scientific" expert analysis, the provisions of the Orthodox faith are defended by the open text, for example the doctrine of the Trinity, while it cites a seminary student as an academic authority. It declares unacceptable the use of the name of God in the form of "Jehovah," despite the fact that this same name in the same form is used in the official Orthodox Synodal translation. All of this shows that the prosecutor's office now does not hide the fact that it is fighting with the Jehovah's Witnesses from a purely doctrinal, theological position. The expert conclusion was conducted by persons who do not have the necessary education and qualifications. The court ordered a complex linguistic and religious studies expert analysis, which was not done. Besides the mathematics teacher Natalia Kriukova, there is another expert, V.S. Kotelnikov, who is declared to be a religious studies scholar, although in reality he graduated from the St. Tikhon's Orthodox Humanities University. A third expert, A.E. Tarasov, is a translator from English and German languages, but he is not a linguist. The expert analysis is essentially plagiarism, since it copies various public sources about Jehovah's Witnesses from the Internet, which naturally have an anti-cult bias. Instead of a qualified expert analysis, the prosecutor's office offers the court, at best, a theological abstract with a substantiation of the truth of the Orthodox faith and, at worst, an outright profanation. A member of the Council on Human Rights under the president of the Russian federation, Liudmila Alekseeva, comments on the trial of the Bible thus: "If knowledgeable people do not stop them, it will be a disgrace before the whole world, because the Bible is a great book which is read not only be Christians of the whole world but by the whole world in general. They just have to be very ignorant people." The trial will become a litmus test, which will show whether we really live in a secular state, where all religions are equal, or whether in our country once again some turn out to be more equal than others. (tr. by PDS, posted 28 July 2017)
  6. Trial on the Bible postponed until August 9th On July 28, 2017, hearings on the first Russian case on the prohibition of the translation of the Bible resumed . Despite the stated petition, for the process was not provided a roomy meeting room, so as listeners in the hall could enter only 7 people. A few minutes after the start, the process was postponed, as one of the parties was not properly notified about the hearings, namely a temporary storage warehouse, where a batch of Bibles detained at the customs house is kept. The hearing will continue on August 9, 2017 at 9:30.
  7. July 28, 2017 in Vyborg City Court (Leningrad reg.) resumed hearing of the suit Leningrad-Finnish transport prosecutor's recognition of the canonical Bible seized by customs at the Jehovah's Witnesses "extremist material". The court entered "expertise", which the authors criticize this issue from the standpoint of orthodox apologetics and ascribe extremist content! This "expertise" was carried out by the teacher Natalia Kryukova , the author of about 50 similar conclusions against Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as her invariable co-authors - the Orthodox religious scholar V. Kotelnikov and the English translator A. Tarasov. Earlier, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation filed an application to initiate criminal proceedings against Kryukova for giving false expert opinions (Article 307 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). For example, on the basis of the conclusions of this "expert", two believers in the Moscow region have been subjected to unfair prosecution for many years. The actions of N. Kryukova in relation to her evaluation of the Bible, seized from Jehovah's Witnesses, are indicative. In her conclusion of June 6, 2017, Kryukova, proving that this edition is not the Bible, says: "In the book" Holy Scripture - Translation of the New World "there are no generally accepted names" Old Testament "and" New Testament ", these sections are called" Jewish-Aramaic Writings "and" Christian Greek Scriptures. " And as an argument in favor of the "extremist" nature of the material submitted for examination, the authors of the conclusion give the following quotation at least 12 times (!): "God rained fire and sulfur on Sodom and the nearby city of Gomorrah. All their wicked inhabitants perished. " The attempt to recognize the extremist Bible itself seems implausible on the background of the fact that in the fall of 2015, the Russian president put forward and signed a law that protects the Holy Scriptures, including the Bible, from anti-extremist legislation. Nevertheless, the prosecutor's claim is a fait accompli: on Friday, July 28, 2017, the court can recognize for the first time in history the "extremist material" - the canonical Bible! The decision on this case can touch very many, because the Bible is a respected and widespread book in Russia. In Russian there are at least 50 different translations of the whole Bible or its sections. The suit of the prosecutor's office has already caused unanimous condemnation of human rights activists and religious scholars. https://www.jw-russia.org/news/17072718-198.html
  8. NEWS Headlines > Jehovah's Witnesses take Russia ban to European Court JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TAKE RUSSIA BAN TO EUROPEAN COURT 25 July 2017 | by Jonathan Luxmoore In April, Russia branded Jehovah's Witnesses an 'extremist organisation' and authorised seizure of their properties Russian Jehovah's Witnesses have tabled an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg after their country's Supreme Court upheld a ban on all their "illegal activities". "The Supreme Court has violated not just the norms of Russian legislation, but also international norms - this is why we are appealing", Viktor Zhenkov, a lawyer for the Witnesses' Administrative Centre, told Russia's Interfax news agency. "The provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights were clearly breached in this case, since not a single person has decided to engage in illegal activities or been affected by them". The lawyer was speaking after the Court's rejection of an appeal against its April judgment, branding the Jehovah's Witnesses an "extremist organisation" and authorising seizure of their properties across Russia. Meanwhile, another legal representative said the ban had been "inexplicable and dangerous for ordinary believers", and had already led to several detentions, as well as job dismissals and the torching of private homes. "Everyone knows the Jehovah's Witnesses aren't extremists - so why have law enforcement structures suddenly acted this way towards them?" said Yaroslav Sivulsky. "Some experts says we compete with the Orthodox church. But we only do what Jesus said: go and spread the word. No civilised country has any complaints against our organisation". Russian police began seizing buildings and other places of worship after the outlawing of the Jehovah's Witnesses, whose 395 branches have around 175,000 members nationwide. The move was condemned by human rights groups and the US, British and German governments, as well as by Russia's small Catholic Church, whose spokesman, Mgr Igor Kovalevsky, said there were "strong misgivings" Catholics could now also face "new acts of discrimination and limits to freedom of belief". However, it was welcomed by Russia's predominant Orthodox church, whose foreign relations director, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, described the Witnesses in a statement as a "totalitarian, harmful sect" propagating "false teachings", whose members "do not believe in Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, or recognise the doctrine of the Trinity". The Witnesses' latest appeal follows European Union and US announcements extending economic sanctions against Russia, which responded by prolonging its own food trade counter-embargo against the West until the end of 2018. In a TV interview last week, Metropolitan Hilarion said he believed the mutual sanctions, imposed over Russia's 2014 intervention in Ukraine, had assisted his country's industry and agriculture by allowing it to develop its "enormous natural, human and material resources". On Monday, Interfax reported that 79 per cent of Russian had supported the ban on the Jehovah's Witnesses in a new survey by Moscow's Levada Centre, although most admitted knowing knew little if anything about the organisation. PICTURE: An attendee pictured at an International Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses held in Melbourne in 2014. Over 70,000 delegates from 60 countries attended the conference. http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/7531/0/jehovah-s-witnesses-take-russia-ban-to-european-court-
  9. Possibly more is going on here than meets the eye. What Satan plans behind the curtain is seen by Jehovah and the angels. Satan has often used other religions to try and destroy true worship. Of course banning us is not destroying us. Hitler and Stalin tried it and see what happened to them while we flourished by Jehovah's spirit.
  10. Religious Freedom Group Notes 'Grave Concerns' About Russia May 18, 2017 7:03 PM Mariama Diallo Russia's Supreme Court Judge Yuri Ivanenko reads the decision in a courtroom in Moscow, April 20, 2017, banning Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the country. It accepted a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group. WASHINGTON — For the first time in almost 20 years of existence, the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom has designated Russia as a Country of Particular Concern because of an increase in repressive policies it says range from administrative harassment to arbitrary imprisonment. “The first thing is to make it clear to the Russian government in words, directly, ideally from the president of the United States, that we have grave concerns about the direction of religious freedom,” Daniel Mark, USCIRF's vice chairman, told VOA, and “not just the rules but the trajectory, which has been really concerning of late and played a big role in our decision.” Last month, Russia's Supreme Court ruled the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group was an “extremist” organization and must hand over all of its properties to the state. “To be labeled such a way as though we are extremist is clearly a misapplication of the laws on extremism. Clearly Jehovah's Witnesses ... should not really be the target because we are not a threat in Russia or any other country in the world. We are active in over 240 lands,” Robert Warren of the world headquarters for Jehovah's Witnesses told VOA. No Bibles allowed Warren says 175,000 people in Russia identify with the faith, and since the ruling, the organization's website has been blocked and no Jehovah's Witnesses Bibles have been allowed in the country. “We really felt the Supreme Court of the Russian Confederation had a wonderful opportunity with this ruling to really show how advanced they really are in terms of protecting the rights of its own citizens who want to pursue Bible education,” Warren added, pointing out “this is definitely a step back.” Sixteen countries have been designated as Countries of Particular Concern by USCIRF. The bipartisan U.S. government commission documents religious freedom around the world, and it makes recommendations to the president, secretary of state and Congress. This year's report, the 18th since the commission's creation in 1998, documents religious freedom violations in more than 35 countries, including the Central African Republic, which also is a Country of Particular Concern because of “ethnic cleansing of Muslims and sectarian violence” in this multiyear conflict. Members of Jehovah's Witnesses react in a court room after a judge's decision in Moscow, April 20, 2017. Russia's Supreme Court has banned the Jehovah's Witnesses from operating in the country. Killings condemned This week, hundreds of civilians sought refuge inside a mosque in the CAR town of Banguassou, amid ongoing attacks by Christian militias that have killed civilians and U.N. peacekeepers. Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, head of the peacekeeping mission in CAR (MINUSCA), strongly condemned the killings, which he said “targeted a minority with the intention without a doubt to inflame the violence, not just in Banguassou but also in the whole of the territory.” In Myanmar, government and societal discrimination make the Rohingya Muslims vulnerable; some have even fled the country. Christians are restricted from public worship and subjected to coerced conversion to Buddhism, warranting a Country of Particular Concern designation. The government and military deny all allegations. In Pakistan, the commission recommended the blasphemy laws be repealed because “they are in one way or another a violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in practice they are used to violate freedom of believers and non-believers.” Hard-line Buddhists walk by a mosque during a protest march, led by Rakhine State's dominant Arakan National Party, against the government's plan to give citizenship to some persecuted Rohingya Muslims, March 19, 2017, in Myanmar. A request for Trump Clifford May, commissioner and founder of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that “at birth, Pakistan had a 30 percent minority population. It's now down to 3 percent, and that 3 percent is sorely oppressed every single day, and it's disappointing.” He said the last time he spoke on the issues in Pakistan, while his lectures resonated with some, a shoe was thrown at his head as well. When it comes to religious freedom, the Reverend Thomas Reese, commission chairman, said, “We want the Trump administration to make it an issue, a priority in its foreign policy … our foreign policy should not simply be about U.S. self-interest — you know, national security and trade. It should also be about the ideals, the values for which this country is known,” noting “we also believe that promoting religious freedom around the world is a national security interest because it brings for peaceful societies where there's more tolerance and stability and peace.”
  11. Assaults on Religious Freedom 'Worsening' Worldwide, Says U.S. Annual Report Share On Facebook Share On Twitter BY JAY GOTERA , CHRISTIAN POST CONTRIBUTOR May 23, 2017 | 5:02 PM More and more Christians worldwide are being subjected to "blatant" and "frightening" assaults, including the "slaughter of innocents," an annual U.S. government report declared. (PHOTO: INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN)The North Korean regime tortures thousands of dissidents, many of whom are Christians. The U.S. Commission in International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) sounded the alarm about the "worsening" state of affairs for religious freedom across the globe in its report for this year, the Christian News Network reported. The report, released on Wednesday last week, urges the U.S. Department of State to designate 16 more nations as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC), citing particular instances in those countries that merited their inclusion in the list. "Overall, the Commission has concluded that the state of affairs for international religious freedom is worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations," said USCIRF Chairman Thomas Reese in a statement. "The blatant assaults have become so frightening—attempted genocide, the slaughter of innocents, and wholesale destruction of places of worship—that less egregious abuses go unnoticed or at least unappreciated," he pointed out. Kristina Arriaga de Bucholz, a USCIRF member, said during a panel discussion on Wednesday in Washington D.C. that the commission "specifically name names so that those stories are lifted and people gain the strength that they need in order to continue fighting for their faith," CBN News reported. The commission urged the State Department to designate six nations—Russia, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, and Vietnam as countries of concern. The commission blew the whistle on Russia due to worsening religious freedoms in that country, which became even more evident with the recent ban of Jehovah's Witnesses. Once again, North Korea topped the USCIRF list of countries with the most repressive regimes, noting that freedom of religion is non-existent in that communist nation. North Korea is also Number 1 on Open Doors USA's World Watch list of the top 50 Christian-persecuting countries in the world. The Commission urged both Congress and the Trump administration to continually speak up about religious freedom abuses around the world, both in public and in private meetings. "You cannot have religious freedom without the freedom of worship, the freedom of association, the freedom of expression and opinion, the freedom of assembly, protection from arbitrary arrest and detention, [and] protection from interference in home and family," the report states.
  12. Russia Labels Jehovah's Witnesses An Extremist Group Russia has banned Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist group, in a sign of the Russian Orthodox Church's political influence. Steve Inskeep speaks with Washington Postreporter Andrew Roth in Moscow. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Russia's Supreme Court has accepted a request from the government to declare Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist group. This puts the Christian denomination in the same category as the Islamic State. We're going to talk about this with Andrew Roth, a Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post who's on the phone. Welcome to the program. ANDREW ROTH: Hi, Steve. INSKEEP: What could possibly make Jehovah's Witnesses the same as ISIS? ROTH: Well, yes, you know, there's a joke that they're the most pacifist extremists in Russia now... INSKEEP: (Laughter). ROTH: ...Because it seems like the Russian government's decided to declare them an extremist group because of pamphlets that they distributed. And the formal argument by the Justice Ministry was that those pamphlets incited hatred against other religious groups. Basically they said that, you know, Orthodoxy is not the true way, our way is the true way. And so that's the main sort of part of the government's argument. INSKEEP: Now, you mentioned pacifists. That's one of the beliefs the Jehovah's Witnesses are known for - pacifism. They try to be apolitical. People in the United States know them because they knock on doors. They pass out those pamphlets you mentioned. They do seek converts. You may disagree with them. You may dislike them but they don't seem that threatening. How common are Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia? ROTH: Right. So today there's about 175,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. This is part of the history of the fall of the Soviet Union. You know, they were persecuted under Stalin but after the fall of the Soviet Union, there was a huge wave of conversions in the country and proselytizing. And they grew quite quickly. And it seems like what's happening now is that the Russian government is really trying to clamp down and to sort of recreate an idea of what official religion is in Russia. You know, there's official Christianity Orthodoxy. There's official Islam. And these are figures who are both religious and also have a sort of government position. And clearly, Jehovah's Witnesses don't fit into that conception of official Christianity in the country. INSKEEP: Andrew Roth, is there something bigger going on here? Vladimir Putin has posed broadly as a defender of traditional Christianity and this is part of that? ROTH: Yeah, I think that that's a fair way to look at the question right now. You know, these are a group of Christians who aren't formally really connected with the state. They're actually not just pacifists but apolitical completely. And that's believed to have made the Kremlin somewhat uncomfortable. There's also a growing strength of the Russian Orthodox Church. INSKEEP: Wait, you're saying that he supports Christianity that can be supportive to him in a political way, that is what he wants? ROTH: Yes. You know, the Russian Orthodox Church which is official Christianity in Russia is this sort of - there's an important symbiosis between religion and the political power in the country. And so the Orthodox Church and the Kremlin have walked in lockstep. And I think it's fair to see that this crackdown is in some ways sort of influenced - growing influence of Orthodox Christianity and a view of Christianity that can support the Kremlin's aim. INSKEEP: Helpful to know. That's Washington Post correspondent Andrew Roth. He is in Moscow, where the Russian Supreme Court has now agreed with the government and declared the Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist group. Mr. Roth, thanks very much. ROTH: Thank you. http://www.npr.org/2017/04/21/525010796/russia-labels-jehovahs-witnesses-an-extremist-group
  13. RUSSIA: DENNIS CHRISTENSEN, A DANISH PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE IN RUSSIA BY ADMIN_HRWF ON JUNE 22, 2017 Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe and Human Rights Without Frontiers (23.06.2017) Full name: Dennis Ole Christensen Birthdate: 1972, December 18 Citizenship: Danish Residency: He has resided in Russia for about 17 years Civil state: Married to Irina Christensen (Russian citizen) on August 3, 2002 – no children. Occupation: Works as a carpenter. His wife has no resource or financial support. Their banks accounts have been frozen and their bank card confiscated. Circumstances of the arrest: On the evening of May 25, 2017, Dennis Christensen – a baptized Jehovah’s Witnesses since July 25, 1989 – was arrested along with 15 Russian citizens at a peaceful worship service held in a privately owned building in Oryol. The valid rental contract was presented to the investigation leader during the raid. At least 15 masked and armed police together with Federal Security Service (FSB) officers disrupted the religious service. The police collected copies of the identification documents of the 70-80 people in attendance and seized their electronic devices. Mr. Christensen was immediately taken to the detention in Oryol. Most of the attendees were detained for some hours. Then the older ones and families with children were allowed to leave. The remaining (about 20) persons were detained in the Hall the whole night or were released about 9:00 a.m. the following morning. Several felt ill during the night, had nothing to eat, one even had an epileptic seizure and was taken to the hospital. An ambulance arrived and the paramedics were ordered to stay during the night. None got any sleep or something to eat. Charges: Mr Christensen has been charged with organizing an illegal religious activity under article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal code and he faces up to 10 years of imprisonment. It is unclear at this stage on which factors the judge relied to consider that Mr Christensen was organizing the meeting. Current place of detention: His postal address to the detention is Krasnoarmeiskaja 10, SIZO-1, City of Orel, 302040, Russia. Conditions of detention: According to his lawyer, Mr. Christensen was not given any food during the 36 first hours following his arrest, with the exception of some water. He was kept awake and constantly interrogated during the first night, and appeared at a hearing in the afternoon the following day before the court that decided over his pre-trial detention. Mr. Christensen was exhausted (he had been kept awake for almost 40 hours) when he appeared before judge Svetlana Naumova in Soviet District Court of Oryol. The court ruled to keep Mr. Christensen in detention until July 23 pending the investigation for fear that he being a foreigner would flee the country. He is now kept in detention in a cell he shares with 2 criminals. Only his lawyer and the consul from the Denmark Embassy in Moscow have been able to visit him. Despite repeated requests, the wife of Mr. Christensen could not exercise her right to visit him since his arrest until now. The representatives of the Danish Embassy reported him being in good health. For more information and/or interviews: Aaron Rhodes (President, FOREF)Peter Zoehrer (Executive Director, FOREF)Phone: +49-170-323-8314 / +43 664-523-8794Email: foref.office@gmail.comBlog: foref-europe.org Willy Fautré (Executive Director, HRWF)Phone: +32478202069Email: international.secretariat.brussels@hrwf.netWebsite: www.hrwf.eu Or contact Dominic Zoehrer, HRWF representative at the OSCE meeting in Vienna
  14. Officials may have found a way Jehovah's Witnesses are adjusting THE POLICE SHOWED UP AT A TENT CITY ON THE NOVOSIBIRSK RESERVOIR They suspected that it was Jehovah’s Witnesses by Anna Bogdanova NGS News, 19 July 2017 A check-up was made in a tent city on the shores of the Novosibirsk Reservoir in the area of the village of Borovoe. The police and government officials suspected that a Jehovah’s Witnesses group, which has been declared a dangerous sect in Russia, has set upon the shore under the guise of ordinary visitors. As the vice governor of the province announced on the 19th, the government officials fear that the visitors may harm their children. “A task force of our interdepartmental commission drove out there along with the Department of Internal Affairs. Under the authority of the Department of Internal Affairs we checked people’s identification,” said vice governor of Novosibirsk Province Aleksandr Titkov. “For now it is difficult to say whether they are Jehovah’s Witnesses or not. But, they are [some kind] of believers.” He described how on the shore the task force found a tent camp, which looked like an ordinary collection of recreational campers. “Really, this is a group of parents of a particular confession that have come to the forest around the Novosibirsk Reservoir and set up a tent camp as a way for their children and families to spend time,” explained the vice governor. "Today we are looking into the circumstances. If we determine that spending time in this way poses a threat to the lives and health of the children, then it is possible that we will decide to get everybody out of this tent camp.” The vice governor did not specify why exactly the authorities were concerned or how they had found out about the camp. Last year there was a religious scandal in Berdsk. In one of the schools there, someone slipped Valentine cards with the message “Jesus loves you with all his heart” into the pockets of children. Note: Jehovah’s Witnesses are an international religious organization. In 2017 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation declared the activities of the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and all 395 of its regional divisions to be extremist and banned them in Russia. (tr. by DSC, posted 21 July 2017)
  15. Danish Jehovah's Witness to stay in Russian jail for 6 months COURT EXTENDS TERM OF DETENTION FOR DANISH CITIZEN CHRISTENSEN Website of Soviet district court of Orel, 20 July 2017 On 20 July 2017, the Soviet district court of the city of Orel extended the term of detention of a member of the Orel religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses and citizen of Denmark, D.O. Christensen, who is accused of committing a serious crime, provided by part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian federation. The term of detention of D.O.Christensen was extended by 4 months, until 23 November 2017. The order has not taken legal effect and may be appealed in the Judicial College for Criminal Affairs of the Orel provincial court. (tr. by PDS, posted 21July 2017) DISTRICT COURT LEAVES MEMBER OF OREL JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN CUSTODY ANOTHER 4 MONTHS SMNews, 21 July 2017 On 20 July 2017, the Soviet district court of the city of Orel extended the term of detention of a member of the Orel religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, until 23 November 2017. The order has not taken legal effect and may be appealed in the Judicial College for Criminal Affairs of the Orel provincial court. Earlier, D.O. Christensen stated that he resides permanently in Orel and he has family and real estate here and therefore he does not intend to flee from the investigation, while complaining about the conditions of detention in the SIZO. The Dane's attorney asked for the selection for him of a measure of prevention that does not entail incarceration. However the prosecutor's office spoke against cancellation of the current measure of prevention, and the court did not find grounds for releasing the preacher from custody. We recall that in late May 2017, the UFSB of Russia for Orel province conducted investigation actions within the framework of opening a criminal case on the basis of part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the RF with respect to the leader of the local Orel religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses, a citizen of Denmark, D.O. Christensen. As a result of questioning about 50 members of the local congregation, siloviki received evidence for the criminal case against the person of his participation in illegal activity. On the basis of the decision of the Soviet district court of the city of Orel of 26 May 2017, the person was held in custody in SIZO-1 [pretrial detention cell], which was the first instance in Russia. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 July 2017) COURT IN OREL DECIDES WHETHER DANISH BELIEVER WILL BE RELEASED FROM CUSTODY Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 19 July 2017 On 20 July 2017 at 10:30 will begin in the city of Orel a hearing on the future measure of prevention for a Jehovah's Witness who is guilty of nothing. He is a citizen of Denmark who has been languishing in an Orel SIZO since 25 May, simply because he read the Bible along with fellow believers. He is charged with violation of article 282.2 (Arranging the activity of an extremist organization). The case of the Dane Dennis Christensen, who has already lived more than 10 years in the city of Orel, will be heard by the same judge, Svetlana Naumova, who earlier concluded that the only possible pretrial measure for the law-abiding Dennis was detention. The F.S.B. investigator who is conducting the case will ask the judge for the same harsh measure of prevention. There is something strange in this case. Special bewilderment is provoked by the circumstances of the appeal hearing on the decision about detention, which was supposed to have occurred on 7 June 2017 in the Orel provincial court with Judge Igor Paukov presiding. The hearing was unexpectedly postponed until 21 June because of the lack of a Danish translator, although an article suddenly appeared in the official newspaper which said that "the Orel provincial court left without change the decision of the district court about detention of the citizen of Denmark." Such a "false start" leads to the suspicion that the decision had already been made and communicated to journalists of the official newspaper back before the court hearing with the participation of a translator, which occurred more than 10 days later, on 21 June 2017. Yet another strange things is that the investigators continue to convince the court that the Danish subject allegedly was the leader of the forbidden local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Orel. Actually not only was he not ever the leader but he was not even a member of that organization, of which one can be persuaded by consulting official information. Attorneys are continuing to work actively to prove the complete innocence of the believer. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 July 2017) "MEMORIAL" RECOGNIZES JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BELIEVER FROM DENMARK, DENNIS CHRISTENSEN, AS POLITICAL PRISONER The case against Christensen is one of the first in the campaign for persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Website of Memorial, 21 July 2017 A citizen of the kingdom of Denmark, Dennis Ole Christensen, a Jehovah's Witness believer living in Orel, is charged with committing the crime provided by part 1 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the RF (arranging the activity of a religious organization with respect to which a decision has been made for liquidation because of conduct of extremist activity). According to the account of the investigation, Christensen was the head of a religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Orel. Personnel of the F.S.B. arrested Christensen on 25 May 2017 during a meeting in a building on Zheleznodorozhnaia Street where Orel Jehovah's Witnesses were reading the Bible together. On 26 May Judge Svetlana Naumova of the Soviet district court of Orel ordered to choose for him a pretrial measure in the form of detention in custody. The case against Christensen is one of the first in a campaign for persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, which sharply intensified after the Supreme Court on 20 April 2017 issued a decision recognizing the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as an extremist organization. Moreover, Christensen was the first Jehovah's Witness in the modern history of Russia to be deprived of liberty because of his religious affiliation. The order for the choice of the measure of prevention with respect to Christensen points out that he allegedly "conducted actions of an organizational nature aimed at continuation of the illegal activity of the Orel local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses and expressed in the calling of meetings of the Orel local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses . . . , arranging preaching activity, and disbursement of funds of the Orel local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. From our point of view, the charges presented to Christensen only on the basis of the fact that he is a Jehovah's Witnesses believer are discriminatory and they violate international legal acts, in particular the right to freedom of religious confession. The decision of the Orel provincial court finding the Orel local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist and the decision of the Supreme Court finding Russian Jehovah's Witnesses to be an extremist organization and banning its activity in the country do not have legal bases and they violate article 28 of the constitution of the Russian federation that guarantees the right to freedom of conscience and religious confession. We demand that the persecution of Dennis Christensen and other Jehovah' Witnesses who are subjected to persecution for religious affiliation be immediately stopped. Recognition of a person as a political prisoner or as persecuted for political reasons does not mean that "Memorial" agrees with his views and statements nor approves of his statements or actions. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 July 2017) Background articles: Danish citizen arrested in connection with raid on Jehovah's WitnessesMay 26, 2017 Severe treatment of foreign Jehovah's Witness in heart of RussiaMay 27, 2017 Harsh measure against Jehovah's Witness unjustified May 31, 2017 Danish Jehovah's Witness remains in Russian jailJune 13, 2017 Imprisoned and not convicted Jehovah's Witness loses appeal for releaseJune 21, 2017 Court refuses to grant habeas corpus to Danish Jehovah's WitnessJune 22, 2017
  16. Human Rights Center: https://memohrc.org/news/memorial-priznal-politzaklyuchennym-veruyushchego-svidetelya-iegovy-iz-danii-dennisa "Memorial" recognized the political prisoner of the believing Jehovah's Witness from Denmark Dennis Christensen The case against Christensen is one of the first in the campaign to prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. Denmark's national Dennis Ole Christensen, a believing Jehovah's Witness who lives in Orel, is charged with committing a crime under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 (organization of the activity of a religious organization in respect of which a decision was made to liquidate in connection with the implementation of extremist activities) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, Christensen heads the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Orel. FSB officers detained Christensen on May 25, 2017 during a meeting in a building on Zheleznodorozhnaya Street, where the Oryol Jehovah's Witnesses together read the Bible. On May 26, Svetlana Naumova, a judge of the Sovietsky District Court of Orel, decided to select a preventive measure in respect of him in the form of detention. The case against Christensen was one of the first in the campaign to prosecute Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, which intensified sharply after the Supreme Court on April 20, 2017 decided to recognize the Jehovah's Witnesses' Center in Russia as an extremist organization. Moreover, Christensen became the first in the modern history of Russia, a Witness of Jehovah, who was deprived of his freedom due to religious affiliation. The decision to select a preventive measure against Christensen states that he allegedly "committed organizational actions aimed at continuing the illegal activities of the IDPs of Jehovah's Witnesses" Eagle "and expressed in the convocation of meetings of JWO Jehovah's Witnesses" Eagle "..., the organization of preaching activities, the distribution of financial Funds of IDPs of Jehovah's Witnesses "Eagle". In our view, the charges against Christensen only on the basis that he is a believing Jehovah's Witness are discriminatory and violate international legal acts, in particular the right to freedom of religion. The decision of the Oryol regional court to recognize the extremist local religious organization (LRO) of Jehovah's Witnesses "Eagle" and its liquidation and the decision of the Supreme Council to recognize the Russian "Jehovah's Witnesses" as an extremist organization and ban its activities in the country do not have legal grounds and contradict Art. 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation guaranteeing the right to freedom of conscience and religion. We demand an immediate end to the persecution of Dennis Christensen and other Jehovah's Witnesses who are persecuted for their religious affiliation. Recognizing a person as a political prisoner or being persecuted for political reasons does not mean either the consent of HRC "Memorial" with his views and statements, nor the approval of his statements or actions. Yandex-purse of the Fund for Assistance to Political Prisoners of the Solidarity Union for Political Prisoners to Assist All Political Prisoners 410011205892134. More details about the case, see here .
  17. Russian puppet threatens Jehovah's Witnesses FOLLOWING THE R.F., AUTHORITIES OF SOUTH OSSETIA INTEND TO BAN JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES Majority of countries consider South Ossetia occupied Georgian territory Portal-Credo.Ru, 19 July 2017 The prosecutor general of South Ossetia, Uruzmag Dzhagaev, addressed the Supreme Court of that country with a plaintiff's declaration for finding the religious association of the Jehovah's Witnesses to be "extremist" and prohibiting its activity on the territory of the republic. "Sputnik-Ossetia" reports on 19 July that in his declaration the prosecutor general noted that the Investigative Department of the ministry received a report that literature and ideas of an "extremist character" were disseminated and promoted in meetings of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Searches were conducted in homes of Jehovah's Witnesses living in South Ossetia, in which siloviki seized religious literature which was included in the "list of extremist materials." "In the course of an inspection it was established that Jehovah's Witnesses operate on territory of the republic without registration and without inclusion on the account of tax authorities and they conduct their activity in violation of the requirements of the law and they act in a way that tends toward the disruption of religious unity of the Ossetian people," the prosecutor general's lawsuit says. Dzhagaev calls the court's attention to the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses forbid blood transfusion for religious reasons, "which poses a threat not only to their health but also to society and the state." "Besides this, the organization resists the participation of its devotees in fulfilling their civic cuties—elections, service in the army—and they clearly demonstrate their hatred toward people who believe differently, primarily toward Orthodox and national traditions and customs of the Ossetians," the document says. According to the commissioner for religious affairs of South Ossetia, Sonya Khubaeva, religious associations operating on the territory of the republic for a decade are working illegally. The Jehovah's Witnesses have often submitted documents for registration to the republican Ministry of Justice, but every time they were turned down because their religious organization is a "destructive sect whose activity bears an extremist character." The basis for such contentions was not explained for the applicants by officials. "According to law, religious associations that do not register with the Ministry of Justice in the manner established by law do not have the right to operate on the territory of our republic," Khubaeva said. According to information of Portal-Credo.Ru's sources, in the region --which Georgia calls Tskhinvalis, and Russia, South Ossetia--there are about 2,000 Jehovah's Witnesses, while the nominal total of the population at the end of 2016 was 53,500 persons. According to information of a number of experts, only from 20 to 40 thousand inhabitants reside permanently on the territory of the region. South Ossetia is recognized as an independent state by the Russian federation, which actually controls its territory (4,000 Russian troops are permanently stationed on the territory of the region), and by Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, and Vanuatu. South Ossetia also was recognized by the tiny Pacific Ocean state of Tuvalu, but subsequently it reconsidered its position. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a special resolution about recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as integral parts of Georgia, of which they were a part in the period of the existence of the USSR. In April 2015, South Ossetia became the only "partially recognized" state that recognized the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, which are, according to Ukraine's qualification, "terrorist organizations," and it opened its embassies in Donetsk and Luhansk, on what is internationally recognized as territory of Ukraine. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 July 2017)
  18. State Department, Religious Freedom Watchdog Denounce Russian Ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses 'Decision sadly reflects the government’s continued equating of peaceful religious freedom practice to extremism' SHARE TWEET EMAIL Participants attend a hearing on the justice ministry request to ban the Jehovah's Witnesses at Russia's Supreme Court in Moscow / Getty Images BY: Charles Fain Lehman July 20, 2017 3:24 pm The upholding of a Russian ban on Jehovah's Witnesses has prompted criticism from the State Department and a federal religious freedom watchdog. The Russian Justice Ministry labeled the Witnesses an "extremist" group in April, banning the organization and membership therein. This Monday the Russian Supreme Court sided with the Russian Justice Ministry over the Witnesses. Both the original ban, as well as the new ruling, have prompted sharp rebuke from U.S. officials. The State Department condemned the Court's decision, saying it was "the latest in a disturbing trend of persecution of religious minorities in Russia." It called on Russia to lift the ban and release any unjustly detained religious minorities. "We further urge Russia to respect the right of all to exercise the freedom of thought, conscience, religion, or belief. All religious minorities should be able to enjoy freedom of religion and assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the Russian Federation’s constitution," a State Department spokeswoman said. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a federal committee responsible for making policy recommendations on international religious freedom to the president and Congress, also denounced the ban. "The Supreme Court’s decision sadly reflects the government’s continued equating of peaceful religious freedom practice to extremism. The Witnesses are not an extremist group, and should be able to practice their faith openly and freely and without government repression," said USCIRF Chairman Daniel Mark. USCIRF has designated Russia a "country of particular concern" for "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom." Other countries with that designation include Iran, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia. The condemnations from the United States are good news for the Witnesses, according to Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses. He was present at the court hearing, and said that it attracted representatives from 10 or 15 countries, as well as the European Union. "It’s very good, because otherwise Russia thought that it will not be noticed by anybody," he told the Free Beacon. "It is very important that international bodies and countries condemn what was going on with Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. Maybe it will have some effect on further actions." Because Russian Jehovah's Witnesses have been declared an "extremist" group, worshiping as a Witness is illegal, and official Witness property is subject to government seizure. "The situation is very bad," Sivulsky said. "Some lost their jobs … Some children at school were mistreated by principals," he said. "We have a few cases where our meeting halls were burned, and one private house was burned." Additionally, at least one non-Russian Witness has been detained by the government. Dennis Christensen, a Danish national, was arrested in April, just after the ban was put in place, as part of a police raid on a Witness service. According to Sivulsky, Christensen may see his detention extended for another several months after this most recent ruling. The State Department has previously documented persecution of religious minorities in Russia as part of its 2015 International Religious Freedom Report. "Government actions included detaining, fining, and imprisoning members of minority religious groups," the report said. "Police conducted raids on minority religious groups in private homes and places of worship, confiscating religious publications and property, and blocked their websites." This persecution is a familiar story to Sivulsky. "It reminds me of Soviet times, when my family was sent to Siberia and my father was imprisoned for seven years merely for practicing his faith and reading the Bible with his family," he said. "Again, he can be criminally accused now, after this decision. It’s kind of a sad story for my family personally." The Jehovah's Witness denomination was organized in the 1880s in the United States. There are over 8.3 million Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, with about 170,000 of those in Russia. This entry was posted in National Security and tagged Russia. Bookmark the permalink. http://freebeacon.com/national-security/state-department-religious-freedom-watchdog-denounce-russian-ban-jehovahs-witnesses/
  19. This does remind one of "let my people go", well we know it took much more than locust to let God's people go back then. And the Russian government sees Jehovah's Witnesses as a joke, uneducated and ordinary, just as all other nations do. You could say they had a "locust swarm" earlier this year when 48 million letters came to them. Obviously that did not make them less obstinate but just the opposite JUST as it did in EGYPT !!!
  20. Yes it is interesting regarding the timing of this. They have locust problems every year but lately since 2015 it has become much worse for some reason. Look at his report from 2015: Watch Millions of Locusts Cause Biblical Devastation in Southern Russia Helen Regan Aug 04, 2015 Massive swarms of locusts in southern Russia are invading farmlands, destroying crops and devastating farmer’s livelihoods. Russia’s Agricultural Ministry has declared a state of emergency in the region as millions of insects quickly devour thousands of hectares of corn and other crops, CNN reports. "In Kalmikya, Astrakhan, Volgagrad, and Dagestan, there is already no food left for the locusts, so they have moved on to other sources of food," Tatiana Drishcheva of the Russia Agricultural Center, told CNN. Since the plague began in July, the locusts, which measure about 8 c.m. long, have destroyed 10% of crops in the affected areas. Russian officials have responded by increasing the amount of aerial pesticides used, but frustrated locals say it is not effective. Though swarms of locusts descend on this part of southern Russia every year, locals say they have not seen it this bad in 30 years. State broadcasters are blaming higher than unusual temperatures and recent flooding.
  21. ‘Locust plague’: Insects invade southern Russian region (VIDEO) Published time: 20 Jul, 2017 11:43Edited time: 20 Jul, 2017 11:44 Get short URL © ROLEX TV / YouTube Spine-tingling footage shows a swarm of locusts traveling across a road in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, where swaths of land have been infested by the plague. The amateur video, filmed through the windscreen of a moving car, shows what at first seems to be a sandstorm looming on the horizon. However, as the car approaches, the dense cloud turns out to be a chaotic mass of giant bugs making their way across the road. The infestation of locusts prompted local authorities to declare a state of emergency in parts of the republic last month, with some 114,000 hectares of agricultural land affected. Despite measures being taken, such as fumigation from tractors and planes, the locusts have been eating their way through the republic’s farmland since early summer, destroying crops and grazing. "They devour everything. They destroy green fields and there is nothing, just bare ground. There are the greens over there, which they have not yet reached,” a local resident told Ruptly video agency. “It makes no difference for them: trees, shrubs or grass. If they devour it all, the cattle will have nowhere to graze. We would not know what to do then.” According to the UN’s Agriculture and Food Organization, an average swarm of locusts can consume the same amount of food as 10 elephants or 2,500 people, as well as being able to travel distances of up to 130km in one day. https://www.rt.com/news/396919-russia-dagestan-locust-swarm/ for video
  22. In 2008, after considerable and protracted legal wrangling, the Russian Prosecutor General's office rehabilitated the Romanov family as "victims of political repressions".[17] "IT ALWAYS BEGAN WITH JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES AND THEN IT WAS REFLECTED ON EVERYBODY" Video by Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 27 March 2017 One of the first laws of the new Russia was the law of 18 October 1991 regarding rehabilitation of victims of political repression. Those who fell within the scope of rehabilitation were those who had been subjected to exile. It was to Jehovah's Witnesses that this pertained in the main. That was the year 1991. What has changed in this time? Have Jehovah's Witnesses changed? No. What has changed in our state in this time? Otherwise how can one explain this thoughtless, to put it mildly, act on the part of the Ministry of Justice which turned into issuing this lawsuit for the liquidation and prohibition of the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses? What kind of consequences might be if this lawsuit were to be granted? According to the Criminal Code, responsibility has been established for participating in the activity that is forbidden as an extremist organization or for organizing this activity and these are such severe sanctions: for participating, from 2 to 6 years incarceration, and for organizing, from 6 to 10 years. Are there really no controlling or supervisory agencies standing behind this lawsuit? Really no analysts there? No experts? Is there really nobody who can say today what this will lead to tomorrow? Well the first step has been made. The next steps—they will follow from what has already been done. If they ban today, then what does that mean should be tomorrow? There should be criminal prosecutions. Now many are commenting on current circumstances with respect to your religious association. They say: "Come now! It isn't likely that someone will go to this. What, will lock ups really start?" I say that this will simply be inevitable. There has already been a pilot case. You will recall that in 2015 in Taganrog, where in 2009 a local congregation was banned, in 2012 a surveillance recording was made, establishing the fact of the conduct of a meeting, and a case was initiated, the case dragged on a long time, and in the end, in 2015, came the court's sentence. And even if there just were fines and even if it was a suspended prison term, there were convictions. Here it was a kind of, one may say, touchstone. And what is now? It isn't Taganrog now. It is not an isolated congregation. This is now throughout Russia. What is it? Throughout Russia now will there be imprisonments? They are inevitable, if today . . . Well, today there is still time to rethink--less than two weeks remain—rethink and put a stop to it. And probably it would be more noble to take a step back, because the consequences of this, what could be, are unpredictable. Many now think that Jehovah's Witnesses have fallen into the list of inconvenient people and this does not affect us; then it seems to me we should not be in delusion. And again, simply look a bit into history, into the history of persecution for religious convictions. It always began with the Jehovah's Witnesses, and then it was reflected onto everybody. It happens, probably, what can one say: "Take care of the Jehovah's Witnesses." Because this will all turn against the rest. And now this is where I started—about recognizing the victims of political repressions. At that time, in 1991, these very Jehovah's Witnesses were given certificates, such beautiful booklets, that they were thus recognized as victims of political repression. And with these certificates came certain privileges. But what of today? Go back and revise the law on rehabilitation? Maybe rescind it? Or simply have the Witnesses collect all these certifications and give them back? I would very much like to believe that still common sense and justice will prevail. (tr. by PDS, posted 28 March 2017) Russian transcript posted on website of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 27 March 2017 Related article: Protestant attorney speaks up for Jehovah's WitnessesMarch 21, 2017
  23. The ban came on an extremely symbolic date. On 17 July (the date of remembrance of the murder of the tsarist family). The Romanov family was executed on JULY 17, 1918. exactly 99 years to the day that the Russian Government has banned for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union a religion - the Jehovah's Witnesses! Interesting. http://www.sclj.ru/news/detail.php?SECTION_ID=478&ELEMENT_ID=7649 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_the_Romanov_family In 2008, after considerable and protracted legal wrangling, the Russian Prosecutor General's office rehabilitated the Romanov family as "victims of political repressions".[17]
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