{"id":10209,"date":"2026-04-21T21:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/?p=10209"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:28:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:28:36","slug":"spanish-court-rules-jehovahs-witnesses-can-be-called-destructive-sect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/spanish-court-rules-jehovahs-witnesses-can-be-called-destructive-sect\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish court rules Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses can be called \u2018destructive sect\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Spanish court has ruled that critics of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses may describe the religious group as a \u201cdestructive sect\u201d without risking defamation claims, citing protections for free expression.<\/p>\n

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Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, a US-based Christian evangelical movement best known for its door-to-door preaching, has regularly filed lawsuits against those who criticise its practices.<\/p>\n

The Provincial Court of Madrid upheld a 2023 ruling in favour of the Spanish Association of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses Victims (AEVTJ), finding that its public criticism of the group does not unlawfully damage its right to honour or reputation.<\/p>\n

The court said describing Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses as a \u201cdestructive sect\u201d falls within the scope of protected free speech under Spanish law, even if it is offensive to the religious organisation, according to a ruling dated April 16 seen Tuesday by AFP.<\/p>\n

Saying that belonging to Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses \u201charms health, endangers people\u2019s lives, or creates victims\u201d also falls under freedom of expression, \u201ceven if it is unpleasant or hurtful\u201d, the ruling added.<\/p>\n

The case stems from a legal complaint brought by six Spanish Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, who argued that the use of the word \u201cvictims\u201d in the association\u2019s name was defamatory and sought its dissolution.<\/p>\n

Carlos Bardavio, a lawyer representing the association, described the ruling as unprecedented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time that, in a country, it has been stated that a religion can be described as a \u2018destructive sect\u2019, even if it is formally registered as a religion,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n

Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The ruling is not yet final and may still be appealed to Spain\u2019s Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, founded in 1870 by pastor Charles Taze Russell in Pennsylvania, claim to have around nine million followers worldwide.<\/p>\n

The group opposes blood transfusions, believing blood is sacred.<\/p>\n

A number of cases involving parents refusing to allow their sick children to receive transfusions have made headlines over the past decades.<\/p>\n

Critics of the organisation also say it is difficult to leave, with some former members saying they faced emotional pressure to remain or were shunned after abandoning the religion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Spanish court has ruled that critics of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses may describe the religious group as a \u201cdestructive sect\u201d without risking defamation claims, citing protections for free expression. Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, a US-based Christian evangelical movement…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10211,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10209\/revisions\/10211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}