Russia

Russia – Criminal prosecutions of 50+ Jehovah’s Witnesses

Prosecutors are investigating at least 50 Jehovah's Witnesses in 16 Russian regions on "extremism" criminal charges. Of these, 21 men and 1 woman are known to be in detention, with 3 more under house arrest...

RUSSIA: Further raids, arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses

Law enforcement agencies launched multiple armed raids on Jehovah's Witnesses' homes in four further regions. Long interrogations followed, including of an 83-year-old woman. Courts put another five people in pre-trial custody as they face criminal...

Russia is rounding up Jehovah’s Witnesses—are other groups next?

It was just after sunrise on April 10 when the doorbell  rang at Anatoly and Alyona Vilitkevich’s apartment in Ufa, an industrial city in central Russia. Their early morning visitors: masked police officers armed with...

Criminal charges brought against Jehovah’s Witnesses recruiters in Orenburg region

Charges have been brought against organizers of a Jehovah’s Witnesses chapter in the Orenburg Region in the southern UralsORENBURG, May 22. /TASS/. Charges have been brought against organizers of a Jehovah’s Witnesses chapter in the...

Intensifying Crackdown on Freedom of Religion or Belief in Russia

Ensuring respect for the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief is a pillar of our shared OSCE commitments and the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security. As recently as the Kyiv Ministerial meeting in 2013,...

The Court of Appeal legalized the seizure of property in the village of Solnechnoye in St. Petersburg

The complex of real estate worth about 2 billion rubles will be confiscated from the foreign organization "Watchtower Society, Bibles and Treatises of Pennsylvania". On May 3, 2018, the St. Petersburg City Court upheld the decision of the...

FSB starts detaining Jehovah’s Witnesses on Kola, dozens flee to Finland

Last April, a ruling by Russia’s Supreme Court banned all Jehovah’s Witnesses organizations throughout the country, arguing the religious group to be extremist.On Friday, Murmansk regional authorities’ newspaper Murmanski Vestnik reports about raids made by FSB and...

Trial Of Jehovah’s Witness Dennis Christensen Adjourned In Russia

A preliminary hearing into a criminal case against Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen, a 46-year old Danish citizen charged with extremism, was adjourned shortly after resuming in Russia's central city of Oryol.Judge Aleksei Rudnev adjourned the...

The detention of a believer in the city of Orel was extended for another 5 months

 Â At least until August 1, 2018, the detention of Dennis Christensen, a Dane who has been detained for about 9 months in the remand prison because of his religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, has been prolonged. The...

Russian court not to proceed with appeal against Jehovah’s Witness property seizure

The Sestrotretsky District court of St. Petersburg has ruled not to proceed with an appeal against confiscation of property of the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization, banned in Russia, valued at 881.5 million rubles (about $15.5 million),...