Phony Jehovah's Witnesses sent to witness Russian Supreme Court proceedings

[JW Insider]

https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russian-students-framed-as-jehovahs-witnesses-in-field-trip-to-crowd-courtroom-57684

Russia’s Phony Jehovah’s Witnesses

How state television framed a bunch of university students to make this Christian group seem extra scary.

April 10, 2017 — 18:47

— Update: 18:46

By Daria Litvinova and Katie Davies

[David Normand]

If the Russian state really want to make a splash they could have told the students, dress slovenly, be obnoxious, and argue with the press. Instead, it was almost a non-event except most of them did not get inside the courtroom. Still no reason why they were invited by the state though. 

[JW Insider]

Could just be an interpretation or two on top of a mix-up, but it seemed quite possible to me that the idea was to show that JWs are corrupting the youth. This is a really old-school technique, since it was used on Socrates.

The article said that much of the day was spent discussing the JW view of blood transfusions. This argument has more negative effect when people view how the doctrine affects young people.

[Anna]

5 hours ago, JW Insider said:

Could just be an interpretation or two on top of a mix-up, but it seemed quite possible to me that the idea was to show that JWs are corrupting the youth. This is a really old-school technique, since it was used on Socrates.

The article said that much of the day was spent discussing the JW view of blood transfusions. This argument has more negative effect when people view how the doctrine affects young people.

To me it seems like the whole idea, whatever it was, got screwed up too easily for it to have been a true "plan" so I think it was more than likely a mix up, as is typical for disorganized societies. As for the blood transfusions....I don't know...perhaps you are right, but I tend to think of blood transfusions being more of a problem with dependent children rather than young adults who surely have the right to decide for themselves what they want as regards the blood issue.

[JW Insider]

4 hours ago, Anna said:

I don't know...perhaps you are right, but I tend to think of blood transfusions being more of a problem with dependent children rather than young adults who surely have the right to decide for themselves

True. It's a bit of a stretch. Besides, the same people who might have made the decision about inviting students may not have known what was going to be discussed last Wednesday. The article just needed a new angle and this one wasn't much in the way of getting to the real reasons behind what they reported. 

[Queen Esther]

Russia’s Phony Jehovah’s Witnesses   -  April  12, 2017  -  01:35  GMT+2

How state television framed a bunch of university students to make this Christian group seem extra scary.

THE GUILTY OF FALSE EVIDENCE.

In one of the registers of a kingdom hall, the security forces placed false evidence in the form of our publications that were banned. An oversight of these expert policemen, made appear among our publications, the book "What really teaches the Bible?". There is a field where you can put the name of the owner of the book, and there you see the inscription "IKTSMV", which means "Information and Consultation Center of San Mitrofan Voronezh" This center is part of the Russian Association of Centers of Studies of religions and sects (RATSIRS). The Orthodox Church is behind everything. The declared purpose of the center's activities is to persecute those who contradict orthodox morality and the mission aimed at neutralizing programs of proselytism and religious extremism. "
The judges have checked the assembly.

Very wicked!

https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russian-students-framed-as-jehovahs-witnesses-in-field-trip-to-crowd-courtroom-57684