(NewsCore) – A group of Jehovah’s Witnesses was arrested in Russia for alleged extremism, RIA Novosti said Friday.

They were held in the southwestern Siberian city of Omsk on suspicion of circulating books and pamphlets banned by the Russian authorities, the state-owned news agency reported.

A criminal prosecution is likely to follow, with the group accused of inspiring hatred or enmity.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses movement, which has seven million followers worldwide and 300,000 in Russia, has been banned in a number of former Soviet republics.

Formed in the 19th century in the United States and best-known for its door-to-door evangelism, its followers believe the world will soon be destroyed at Armageddon.

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