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A court in Poland has refused to extradite former vice president of corporate finance at Probusinessbank, Yaroslav Alekseev, to Russia. According to Vedomosti with reference to the local TVP Info channel, the judge considered that Alekseev’s extradition was legally unacceptable, since he was a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, and its members get prosecuted, arrested and sentenced to long terms in Russia. Jehovah's Witnesses is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia. In September, the US State Department imposed sanctions against two Surgut investigators, who were believed to have used torture against some of the organization members. Alekseev was detained in Poland in February 2019. The decision to arrest the banker in absentia was made by the Basmanny court of the capital in 2017 on charges of embezzlement or larceny on a particularly large scale. https://en.crimerussia.com/international/poland-refuses-to-extradite-banker-to-russia-because-he-is-jehovah-s-witnesses-member-/

Lesson for today. (John 17:3) “Why, Lord, Did You Remain Silent?” THESE were the words of Pope Benedict XVI, who visited the former concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland, on May 28, 2006. At the site where the Nazis killed hundreds of thousands of Jews and others, he added: “How many questions arise in this place! Constantly the question comes up: Where was God in those days? Why was he silent? How could he permit this endless slaughter, this triumph of evil? . . . We must continue to cry out humbly yet insistently to God: Rouse yourself! Do not forget mankind, your creature!” The popeÂ’s speech gave rise to animated reactions. Some detected revealing omissions, such as his failure to mention the anti-Semitism that was associated with atrocities at Auschwitz. Others read into his words an attempt to play down the request of Pope John Paul II for forgiveness of sins that the church committed. A Catholic journalist, Filippo Gentiloni, observed: “It was, however, logical that many commentators when confronted with the difficult question regarding where God was—a question without an answer—instead requested an answer to the easier question: Where was Pius XII?” The commentators were referring to Pope Pius XIIÂ’s silence during the Holocaust. The Holocaust and all the other acts of genocide committed throughout human history prove that “man has dominated man to his injury.” (Ecclesiastes 8:9) Furthermore, manÂ’s Creator has not been silent in the face of so much horror. Through the pages of the Bible, he has revealed his reasons for allowing wickedness. God has also assured us that he has not forgotten mankind. In fact, the time period during which God has permitted man to rule himself will soon come to an end. (Jeremiah 10:23) Would you like to know more about GodÂ’s purpose for us? JehovahÂ’s Witnesses will be happy to help you to see the BibleÂ’s answer to the questions that perplexed Pope Benedict XVI. - JW.ORG

Polish foreign minister: Macron's comments on Poland 'were not necessary' Â

Police here appear to be declaring war on the carts...

The following are real events that happened just recently, even though it may sound like sci-fi. Sorry for bad English, I'm not a native speaker :). TL;DR: Paweł Bugajski, a member of polish branch committee was questioned before court in a civil case regarding shunning practices. It didn't turn out well for him. Read on for the full story. The case is still ongoing so I can't say much, but get this: there is this brave polish woman, Danuta Kubik (her blog in Polish), who suffered a lot from the organization, because of elders who disfellowshipped her for "brazen conduct" (i.e. not obeying her husband, an alcoholic and wife batterer, and going with her problems to legal authorities) some 20 years ago. Since then people she cared about turned back on her which caused her much stress, especially that she truly believed in God and that the organization (JW) is his tool. After putting herself together and battling depression for years she fought for her rights and good name, first by writing numerous letters to the polish branch and then by going to courts (because of how the elders, one of them especially, treated her badly and coerced others against her). Because the polish justice system leaves much to wish for, this took some time. In the meantime, polish branch did something pretty unprecedented – they've agreed that some mistakes were made and that they're reverting the decision to disfellowship her. The following announcement was made in the congregation: "Danuta Kubik has never stopped being Jehovah's Witness". The damage was done though, so Danuta still sought justice. She just wanted a public apology from the elder who insisted on DF'ing her. But the response was: "we don't do public apologies in the organization". Some of the letters she received from the branch were signed by the chairman of the branch committee, Paweł Adam Bugajski. So when Danuta continued to seek justice in court, she picked him to testify and the court agreed that his deposition could be relevant. Fast forward to last Wednesday, a court hearing was held in Legnica, Silesia, Poland where Bugajski did indeed arrive, with a lawyer of course. He started testifying but his lawyer was objecting nearly every question on non-relevance basis, and the judge upheld the objections. He was evading questions and basically doing the same thing Jackson did in Australia. Suddenly one person from the audience stood up and went to the exit. Before she left, she cried out loud saying that she can't bear to hear this anymore. I'll quote her post on our forums after the fact: It's extraordinary, but the judge heard the whole thing and didn't fine that brave woman. What's more, he started to be more careful during the hearing, was asking questions himself and overruled all objections from Bugajski's lawyer. He caught him on evading or straight–up lies three times! The whole hearing took nearly two and a half hours (which is also unheard of, usually these things are a lot shorter). Bugajski entered the court proud and arrogant, but left it sweating and generally beaten up. Because of his long deposition the hearing was adjourned for another time, but we feel that we won this battle. The judge saw through him and noticed that there's something terribly wrong with this organization. But that's not all! After the hearing Bugajski and the defendant approached Danuta and asked if they can speak with them. Two of our fellow brothers who helped her through the case approached them immediately asked what they want. Reluctantly, they've said that they would want to set up a meeting with her to talk. She said that it's ok for her, as soon as those guys and her lawyer will be listening. Their reply: "Oh, no, you know the procedures, we cannot allow to have other people when we're talking to you". Can you imagine their arrogance! They just got a kick in the butt in the courtroom and here they are, trying to coerce her to another private conversation where they would try to wash her brain again with no witnesses. Of course, she refused that offer. And because two other people saw that scene, they will definitely use that in the future hearing. Overall I'm extremely happy about how this went and I'm positive that this could set a nice precedent for these kind of cases in Poland. Wish us luck on next hearings! - OHmyJW

Pope Francis falls during Mass in Poland Pope Francis has fallen during a visit to Czestochowa, Poland. The pontiff was walking on stage, about to address the waiting crowd, but suddenly fell.

https://static.wtsarchive.com/transmisja-201604-wideo.mp4 Sadly I didn't hear any sound. Let me know if you do.