Russia

RUSSIA: 200 people on criminal trial for exercising freedom of religion or belief

Nearly 200 Jehovah's Witnesses and 9 Muslims who study Said Nursi's writings are on criminal trial for exercising freedom of religion and belief. Since June, courts jailed 17 Jehovah's Witnesses for "organising" or "participating in"...

Seven Jehovah’s Witnesses Handed Prison Terms In Russia

Seven Jehovah's Witnesses have been handed prison terms on extremism charges in Russia's southwestern Rostov region amid an ongoing crackdown on the religious group that has been banned in Russia since 2017. [caption id="attachment_6439" align="aligncenter"...

U.S. Report Says Russia Among ‘Worst Violators’ Of Religious Freedom

An independent, bipartisan advisory body has reiterated its call for the U.S. State Department to add Russia to its register of the world's "worst violators" of religious freedom, a blacklist that already includes Iran, Pakistan,...

RUSSIA: “Retroactively depriving Russian citizens of the right to international protection”

Under June amendments, Russia will not enforce any European Court of Human Rights decision which came into force after 15 March, and will pay outstanding compensation in earlier cases only in Roubles and not to...

Another Jehovah’s Witness Gets Prison Term In Siberia Amid Crackdown

A Russian court in Siberia has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison amid an ongoing crackdown on the religious group, which has been banned in the country since 2017. [caption id="attachment_6388" align="aligncenter"...

Russia’s ban of Jehovah’s Witnesses illegal, European human rights court says in landmark ruling

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has in a landmark decision against Russia, ruledthat it was unlawful to persecute Jehovah’s Witnesses for their faith. The court also ruled that the 2017 ban of Witnesses...

Putin: Legislative termination of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in Russia

Vladimir Putin - and formally - cuts ties with international law after Russia's withdrawal from the Council of Europe, as he signed the law terminating the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights in...

Russia jails four Jehovah’s Witnesses for six years

MOSCOW - A Russian court sentenced four members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the US-based Christian evangelical movement, to six years in prison for "extremism", investigators said Tuesday. The four adherents of the Jehovah's Witnesses, who...

Russia ordered to pay $67 million to Jehovah’s Witnesses over illegal ban, human rights court says

Russia must drop its ban on the Jehovah’s Witnesses, release the 91 members of the group in its jails, and stop prosecuting citizens for belonging to the movement, the European Court of Human Rights ruled...

Five Years Ago, the Russian Supreme Court Liquidated All Legal Entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses. What Has Transpired Throughout These Years?

On April 20, 2017, Povarskaya Street in Moscow was filled with mobile TV stations. Near the entrance to the Supreme Court building, journalists asked Jehovah's Witnesses how they plan to live after their legal entities...