UN Human Rights Committee Defends Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Right to Hold Religious Meetings

The authors of the communication are Aziz Aliyev, Jeyhun Aliyev, Vagif Aliyev, Gamar Aliyeva, Havva Aliyeva and Yevdokiya Sobko, nationals of Azerbaijan born in 1960, 1989, 1959, 1959, 1969 and 1958, respectively. They claim that...

Brother Roman Baranovskiy and His Mother, Sister Valentina Baranovskaya, Lose Their Appeal

On May 24, 2021, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Khakassia, Russia, denied the appeal of Brother Baranovskiy and his 70-year-old mother, Sister Valentina Baranovskaya. They will remain in prison. The court also confirmed...

RUSSIA: Widened ban on “extremists” exercising religious freedom

Religion Law amendments – which come into force in October – ban those the state considers – rightly or wrongly – to be extremists from participating in religious groups. They also ban commercial entities (such...

Elderly, Infirm Woman Convicted On Extremism Charges In Russia For Being A Jehovah’s Witness

A 73-year-old Jehovah’s Witness in Russia's Far Eastern Primorye region has been handed a four-year suspended sentence on extremism charges amid an ongoing crackdown on the religious group that has been banned in the country...

Russia’s FSB Spied On Jehovah’s Witnesses In Bathhouse

Russian intelligence services have spied on and filmed Jehovah's Witnesses in a bathhouse, in the latest example of persecution against the outlawed Christian group. The snooping, carried out by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), was...

2020 Report on International Religious Freedom: Kazakhstan

The constitution defines the country as a secular state and provides for freedom of religion. The Committee for Religious Affairs (CRA), part of the Ministry of Information and Social Development (MISD), is responsible for religious...

U.S. Embassy in Georgia about Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia

MR PRICE:  Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.  I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to introduce Secretary Blinken, who will speak to the Department’s International Religious Freedom Report.  We will then hear...

Jehovah’s Witnesses Report Convictions, Torture in Russia

MOSCOW — Two Jehovah's Witnesses have been convicted of extremism in Russia and four more arrested, one of whom reported being tortured in custody, the religious group said Friday. A court in Kamchatka on Friday...

UN General Assembly Resolution declaring 2021 as International Year of Peace and Trust

The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution initiated by Turkmenistan, declaring the year 2021 as ‘The International Year of Peace and Trust.’ The announcement was made in Turkmenistan on Monday when President Berdymuhamedov...

Heavy prison sentence against Russian Jehovah’s Witness for ‘holding conversations in public places’

A Russian court has sentenced 55-year-old Vladimir Alushkin to six years’ imprisonment for supposed ‘extremist activities’, namely reading the Bible and practising his faith. The same Leninsky District Court in Penza passed two-year suspended sentences against five...