Jehovah’s Witnesses launch global response against Russia’s proposed ban on the religion.
The Supreme Court of Russia is set to judge whether Jehovah's Witnesses can be considered as an “extremist” body. This came after the Russian Justice Ministry made its application for an order which will shut the national headquarters of this group. Jehovah's Witnesses has its base near St. Petersburg. The website of the Russian Supreme Court announced a legal team would get together on April 5 and consider the application made by the Justice Ministry. The matter of banning all activities by Jehovah's Witnesses depends on the outcome of this meeting.
Members of Jehovah's Witnesses have responded by making an appeal to Supreme Court officials and the Kremlin. Jehovah’s Witnesses have launched a worldwide letter writing campaign to Russia. The heads of Jehovah's Witnesses has invited its members from all over the world to participate. About 8 million people identify themselves as a Jehovah’s Witness. Jehovah's Witnesses is well known for its highly visible foreign ministries. Its practice of campaigning door-to-door has made it well known not only in Russia but all over the world. The problem with the Russian authorities is not a new phenomenon, Moscow labels it as a cult, a label which it fiercely denies. A number of its publications have been inserted into the banned extremist literature link. Russian prosecutors have projected it as an organization which fosters hatred, threatens lives and destroys families. The organization has denied such labels. If the Russian Government has its way, the national headquarters of the Jehovah's Witnesses near the city of St. Petersburg will be locked off. About 400 local religious organizations which are registered with the Russian government will be destroyed. These will outlaw services of about 2,300 Jehovah's Witnesses congregations in Russia. The state will seize all places of worship throughout Russia. Not only this, members of this religious organization will be subjected to be criminally prosecuted for simply carrying out worship activities. All of these matters will be judged by the Supreme Court on April 5.
#StopJWBan Letters from Jehovah's Witnesses to the Russian leadership !!!
One of Russia's own lawyers says here that his government is making a mistake, if they try to ban Jehovah's people...... very interesting !!
Posted on: 26 Mar. 2017 The editor-in-chief of the journal "Religion and Law" regards the claim on the prohibition of Jehovah's Witnesses as a colossal legal and religious mistake.
"From my point of view, the federal bodies of executive power, which is the Ministry of Justice, have made a colossal legal error and ... religious studies. The whole history shows that the attempt to ban, liquidation does not lead to anything. Just Jehovah's Witnesses will be in hiding.
And when I talk with religious people, with clergymen, they ask me a question, in fact, rhetorical: "Anatoly Vasilievich, what happens?" This is a colossal error of the federal executive bodies. I'm not talking about the violation of basic constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens. Article 28 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of conscience and religion, is simply trampled upon, simply ignored.
Jehovah's Witnesses exist today throughout the world. And even Nazi Germany, which for them was creating their Auschwitz camp, or in Polish it is called Auschwitz, where one million four hundred thousand people were killed - it was created for Jehovah's Witnesses. They wore a purple triangle ... And how did it end? It ended in the collapse of Nazism. But other states have drawn the right conclusions from this. Today, Jehovah's Witnesses exist, freely operate in the same Germany, in other European states. But why does this happen to us? I'm asking this question. And I'm absolutely sure that it will not lead to anything good.
I, perhaps, do not share the creed of Jehovah's Witnesses, but today I am for defending them, because the violation of rights begins here.
And I want to remind you of the famous words - they may sound trite, but they should be repeated more often, - the famous priest Martin Nimöller, by the way the German priest, the Lutheran, who said: "At first they came for the Communists, but I did not say anything. Then they came for the Jews, but I did not say anything, because I was not a Jew either. They came for the Catholics - I did not say anything. And when they came for me, there was no one to say a word in my defense. " So, do not be silent. If we say that we are a law-based state, we are a state where human rights and freedoms are guaranteed, where the law has the power of supremacy, then let's raise our voice in defense of Jehovah's Witnesses! "
Anatoly Vasilievich Pchelintsev, honorary lawyer of Russia, senior partner of the Law Office Slavic Law Center, editor-in-chief of the magazine Religion and Law, Doctor of Law, member of the Expert Council of the State Duma Committee on Public Associations and Religious Organizations, member of the Commission for Improvement Legislation and law-enforcement practice of the Council for Interaction with Religious Associations under the President of the Russian Federation.
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