Month: May 2022

RUSSIA: Five years after Jehovah’s Witness ban, jailings continue

Five years on from the 2017 ban on Jehovah's Witnesses, prosecutors have launched criminal cases on "extremism" charges against more than 600 individuals, of whom more than 200 have so far been convicted. Nearly 60...

Released from Russia, Jehovah’s Witness returns to Denmark

A Danish Jehovah’s Witness has returned to Denmark after spending five years in a Russian prison under Moscow’s crackdown on the religious group [caption id="attachment_6295" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Dennis Christensen[/caption] COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - A Danish...

Russia releases Jehovah’s Witness follower from prison

COPENHAGEN, May 24 (Reuters) - A Danish adherent of the Jehovah's Witnesses was released from a Russian prison on Tuesday after serving five years on extremism charges as part of Moscow's crackdown on the religious...

2 Italians Jehovah’s Witnesses abducted in southern Mali, says mayor

BAMAKO, Mali — Armed men have abducted an Italian family and their Togolese domestic worker in southern Mali, an official said Friday, the latest attack to target Westerners in the volatile West African country. Chaka...

International Conscientious Objector Day South Korea’s Alternative Civilian Service Violates International Standards

SYRACUSE - As the world prepares for International Conscientious Objector Day on May 15, over 800 Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Korea have chosen to perform alternative civilian service (ACS) instead of compulsory military duties. [caption...

South Korea still punishing conscientious objectors despite promised alternative to military service, activists say

Jang Kyeong-jin remembers as a child visiting his uncle in prison, knowing one day he would follow him there. Like an estimated 100,000 people across South Korea, Mr. Jang’s family are Jehovah’s Witnesses. Members of...

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Norway: The Supreme Court Corrects a Mistake

A strange decision by an appeal court that ordered a disfellowshipped member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to be reinstated has been overturned. Last year, Bitter Winter reported that on July 9, 2021, Norway’s Borgarting Court...

An Act Motivated by Love “It Was Supposed to Be His Last Trip”

As the fighting in the Donetsk Region of Ukraine intensified, Brother Mykola Bozhedomov made several trips back to Kramatorsk to help as many as possible to escape the war zone. [caption id="attachment_6265" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Brother...

Russian ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses hits the five-year mark

APRIL 20, 2022 marked five years since Russia’s systematic persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses began. Since then, some 400 of the Witnesses’ legal entities, including houses of worship, have been shut down. More than 1,740 homes...