On Friday Finland’s Jehovah’s Witnesses will give their religious rule book to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Interior so that it can be inspected to ensure that it’s in line with Finnish rule of law.
Until now, only senior members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Committee have had access to the congregation’s secret book of rules.
The disciplinary activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Committee have been criticised for violating human rights.
According to Anna-Maja Henriksson, Finland’s Minister of Justice, the purpose of the handover is to examine the book and determine whether its rules and regulations run counter to Finnish law.
Henriksson and Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen met on Thursday with the leadership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Helsinki. The book will be handed over on Friday for inspection.
According to representatives of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, committee practices have been changed recently and the committee no longer addresses or interferes in the matters of its members that are considered to go against church guidelines.
- Sources
- Yle
