KYRGYZSTAN: “We have not been able to pray and worship together”

Since July 2011, "we have not been able to pray and worship together", an Ahmadi Muslim complained to Forum 18 News Service. Kyrgyzstan's State Commission for Religious Affairs (SCRA) has denied registration – or the...

Russian Witness forced to quit job and unjustly indicted as a target of religious harassment

AKHTUBINSK, Russia— Yelena Grigorieva is one of many individuals targeted in an official campaign against Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout Russia. On December 20, 2011, local investigator A. Gluschenko served 43-year-old Mrs. Grigorieva with an unjust indictment...

Court acquits Jehovah’s Witnesses leader charged with extremism

GORNO-ALTAYSK, December 22 - RAPSI. The Altai Republic Supreme Court revoked on Thursday the sentence of the head of a local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses who was earlier convicted of religious extremism, RIA Novosti reported...

Officials in Siberia target married couple with unjust criminal charges

CHITA, Russia—A married couple in the Siberian city of Chita is now the target of baseless criminal charges brought by Russian authorities.On December 22, 2011, court proceedings are due to begin in the city of...

Russian blocking Jehovah’s Witness websites

RUSSIA: "This isn't about freedom of conscience or censorship"Russian state censorship increasingly extended nationwide in November to cover Jehovah's Witness websites – and possibly also Hare Krishna sms announcements, Forum 18 News Service has learnt....

Criminal conviction in Russia seen as an “attack on freedom of expression and religion”

 GORNO-ALTAYSK, Russia—An appeal hearing contesting the criminal conviction of Aleksandr Kalistratov will be heard by the Supreme Court of the Altay Republic on December 22, 2011. Charged with inciting religious hatred, Kalistratov, one of Jehovah’s...

Religious publication promoting healthy living pronounced extremist

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—In a clandestine hearing, the Makarov District Court (Sakhalin region) found nine publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses, including a tract entitled Comfort for the Depressed, to be extremist. The copyright owner of the publications...

Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses leader found guilty of extremism

A regional court in Russia’s Altai region found the local head of the Jehovah's Witnesses guilty of extremism on Thursday and sentenced him to 100 hours of community service.The Jehovah's Witnesses is an international religious...

Aggression towards Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia reaches unprecedented heights

Authorities’ religious intolerance and harassment reminiscent of the Soviet eraCHEBOKSARY, Russia— For the first time in Russia since the end of the Soviet Union, Russian citizens who are Jehovah’s Witnesses are now being arrested and...

Russia: Protests in Rostov against Jehovah’s Witnesses

After accusations, trials and physical attacks, street protests now target the JW. Slogans and banners stigmatize the community as an extremist sect.Moscow - After house raids, court trials for extremism and physical aggression now the...