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...

Jehovah’s Witnesses Caught Showing Illegal Kids’ Movies in Sweden

Banned in several countries, the Jehovah's Witnesses admittedly run a multi-million dollar film industry with the purpose of specifically reaching out to children. Despite being convicted in a district court for showing films that have...

RUSSIA: First Jehovah’s Witness ban conviction, more trials underway

In the first conviction deriving from the Supreme Court ban on all Jehovah's Witness activity, Aleksandr Solovyov was fined nearly a year's average local wages, although prosecutors had sought to jail him. Six more trials...

Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses Targeted in New Raids by Security Services in Siberia, Far East

Russian security services have launched a series of raids against the homes and meeting places of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the country’s far-eastern Siberian region, detaining several devotees.   The actions are the latest in a...

RUSSIA: 100+ Jehovah’s Witness criminal cases

At least 23 Jehovah's Witnesses are in pre-trial detention, 28 under house arrest, and 42 under travel restrictions as more than 100 face "extremism"-related criminal charges. If convicted they could face up to 10 years'...

RUSSIA: “6-year jail sentence for believing in God”

After 74 hearings over one year, an Oryol court jailed Jehovah's Witness Dennis Christensen for six years for organising a "banned extremist organisation", the first Jehovah's Witness in post-Soviet Russia sentenced to imprisonment. "We will...

In the Murmansk region, the criminal investigation of two residents of the city of Polyarny,

The investigating authorities of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Murmansk region completed the investigation of the criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 1 of Art. 282.2 of the...

Vladimir Putin: “Jehovah’s Witnesses are also Christians, for which I do not understand them too much”

“This is complete nonsense, you need to carefully deal with this,” Vladimir Putin commented on theinclusion of Jehovah's Witnesses in the list of extremist organizations. The corresponding question was asked of him at a meeting...

RUSSIA: Criminal investigations against 69 Jehovah’s Witnesses

Amid continuing police, FSB and Investigative Committee raids across Russia, 69 Jehovah's Witnesses are now facing criminal investigations. Of these, 25 are in detention, 9 under house arrest, and 30 under travel restrictions. Three trials...

Stop prosecuting Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia – Kremlin advisers

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Advisers to President Vladimir Putin have questioned the legality of a slew of criminal cases opened against members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and asked the General Prosecutor’s office to protect...

RUSSIA: 53 Jehovah’s Witnesses facing criminal prosecution – list

Full list of 53 Jehovah's Witnesses charged or named as suspects or currently on trial for "extremism"-related offences as of 11 July 2018. Of these, 22 are in detention, 3 under house arrest and 27...

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...