On October 25, 2024, Judge Oksana Nazarova of the Pervomaisky District Court of Izhevsk sentenced Yevgeniy Stefanidin and Aleksandr Votyakov to six and six and a half years suspended, respectively. The court considered reading the...

On September 23, 2024, the judge of the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Yaroslavl, Marina Chipilenko, convicted Anton Kokovin, 34, and fined him for participating in the activities of an extremist organization. The decision has not...

On September 16, 2024, in Samara, law enforcement officers detained Samvel Babayan, who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite the poor health of the believer, the court sent him to a pre-trial detention center....

Dmitriy Terebilov, whose sentence for his faith expired on September 5, remains behind bars. Back on August 26, the Sverdlovsk District Court of Kostroma ruled to place Terebilov in a pre-trial detention center in the second case - for...

On July 18, 2024, the European Court of Human Rights granted nine complaints by Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia at once, who were subjected to illegal searches, arrests, and convictions for their religion. The Russian Federation...

Natalia Sharapova, 51, labor veteran Boris Andreyev, 72, and Anatoliy Li, 39, received three, six and six and a half years in prison, respectively — on June 10, 2024, Tatyana Pogorelaya, judge of the Khorolsky...

For the first time, a Jehovah's Witness prisoner of conscience is on trial in Kostroma for his exercise of freedom of religion or belief while imprisoned. Dmitry Terebilov answered questions about his faith from a...

In Russia the government has not only banned the Witnesses’ legal entities but it has clearly shown its intent to wipe out their peaceful worship. Nine Jehovah’s Witnesses living in the occupied territory of Crimea...

On June 18, 2024, the Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Udmurt Republic upheld the verdict against Sergey Gobozev and Mikhail Potapov. The men will have to pay 450,000 and 400,000 rubles, respectively. The...

On May 29, 2024, the judicial panel of the Eighth Court of Cassation in Kemerovo upheld the verdict against Aleksandr Seredkin. The believer will continue to serve his sentence in the penal colony. [caption id="attachment_9167" align="aligncenter" width="1500"]...

World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses (20.04.2024) – April 20th marks the seventh anniversary of Russia’s nationwide ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses, which has led to hundreds of peaceful believers jailed and some brutally tortured. International human rights advocates are decrying...

This month, Vladimir Putin secured 87% of the vote in Russia to extend his hold on power. And, another ten Russian Jehovah's Witnesses have been convicted and sentenced to prison. Jarrod Lopes, spokesperson for the...

She was just participating in a religious worship online. Earlier, her husband Vladimir received six years in prison on similar charges. Tatyana Piskareva, a pensioner from Oryol, was found guilty of participating in the activities of...

Courts have convicted 467 Jehovah's Witnesses from 2017 up to 18 March 2024, and ultimately acquitted none. Over a quarter of the Jehovah's Witnesses prosecuted have been aged 60 or older, with 12 individuals aged...

Freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and other fundamental freedoms remain seriously restricted in Russia. Forum 18's survey analysis documents violations including: "extremism"-related criminal prosecutions and jailings of Jehovah's...

Since 2017, Russia's Supreme Court has labeled the Jehovah's Witness denomination "extremist," disbanding and banning its nearly 400 branches across the country. Nine Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in Russia today after...