![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/s3fs-public\/styles\/story_medium\/public\/thumbnails\/image\/2017\/07\/18\/12\/jw-ru-appeal-hearing-back.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA\u00c2\u00a0ban on Jehovah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Witnesses\u00c2\u00a0is to come into full force in Russia after a court dismissed an appeal against the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s classification as an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153extremist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d organisation.<\/p>\n
The British and American governments were among those raising human rights concerns over the prohibition, which will liquidate the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s administrative centre near St Petersburg and 395 local religious organisations.<\/p>\n
Russia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Supreme Court upheld the ruling on Monday, having previously decided in favour of the justice ministry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterisation of the\u00c2\u00a0Jehovah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Witnesses\u00c2\u00a0as an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153extremist organisation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d whose members \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Judges ordered the closure of the group’s Russian headquarters, local chapters and the seizure of its property by the state.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153While we were prepared for a negative ruling, it is still very disappointing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said David Semonian, international spokesman for the Jehovah’s Witnesses.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is very concerning that despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, powerful elements within Russia continue to frame our organisation as extremist.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We can only hope a fair evaluation of the facts will eventually prevail and our right to worship in Russia will be legally restored.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Christian denomination put forward requests to allow experts to testify on whether their beliefs can be considered extremist but the three-judge panel rejected all motions.<\/p>\n
In the two months following the initial ruling on 20 April, the Jehovah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Witnesses international headquarters reported a seven-fold increase in incidents of violence and harassment it said was linked to the case.<\/p>\n
Members have raised concern Russia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ban will \u00e2\u20ac\u0153give impetus to further acts of aggression\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Regardless of what negative consequences this decision brings, Jehovah’s Witnesses will continue to act within the law to secure their rights and support their fellow worshippers in Russia who must bear the burden of injustice,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mr Semonian said.<\/p>\n
The case could be taken to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled a previous attempted ban on Jehovah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Witnesses in Russia unlawful in 2010, but the court has no power to enforce its decisions and Russia could ignore any verdict.<\/p>\n
The\u00c2\u00a0British Government previously said it was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153alarmed\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by the ban\u00c2\u00a0and called on Vladimir Putin to uphold religious freedom.<\/p>\n
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the minister for human rights, said he\u00c2\u00a0was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153deeply concerned\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by the appeal’s rejection in light of Russia’s public commitments to freedom of religion.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This ruling confirms the criminalisation of the peaceful worship of 175,000 Russian citizens and contravenes the right to religious freedom that is enshrined in the Russian constitution,\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 he added.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The British Government continues to call upon the Russian Government to uphold its international commitment to this basic freedom.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom denounced the Russian Supreme Court\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest ruling and said it reflects the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153continued equating of peaceful religious freedom practice to extremism\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Witnesses are not an extremist group, and should be able to practice their faith openly and freely and without government repression,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said its chairman, Daniel Mark, following the by-partisan body\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call for Russia to be designated a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153country of particular concern\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for violations of religious freedom.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Russian government is intensifying its crackdown on religious freedom at home while also extending its repressive policies to neighbouring states.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are known for door-to-door preaching and handing out literature, reject some of mainstream Christianity’s core beliefs and have more than 8.3 million members around the world.<\/p>\n
The US-based group has generated controversy for stances including its rejection of blood transfusions and opposition to military service, facing court proceedings in several countries.<\/p>\n
Jehovah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Witnesses first registered as a religious group in Russia in 1991 and registered again in 1999, but have been targeted repeatedly by authorities in a wide-ranging crackdown on religious freedom.<\/p>\n
Russia changed its legal definition of extremism in 2006, removing requirements for violence or hatred but stating the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153incitement of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.religious discord\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as criteria, leaving the Jehovah’s Witnesses with the same legal status as Isis or Nazis.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The group’s international website was blocked in Russia two years ago over alleged extremism, with its Bibles banned the following year, while a local chairman was jailed for two years on charges of possessing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153extremist literature\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in 2010.<\/p>\n
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was among the international bodies condemning a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153state sponsored campaign of harassment and mistreatment of Jehovah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Witnesses\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it said dated back to the 1990s in Russia.<\/p>\n
It listed police searches, assaults, arson attacks, vandalism, seizures and raids on worship, as well as the arrest of several members and criminal investigations.<\/p>\n
The Russian Orthodox Church, which enjoys close ties with the Kremlin and the patronage of Mr Putin, is the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest religion, with followers representing around 41 per cent of the population.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A\u00c2\u00a0ban on Jehovah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Witnesses\u00c2\u00a0is to come into full force in Russia after a court dismissed an appeal against the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s classification as an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153extremist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d organisation. The British and American governments were among those raising human…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-news","category-russia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912","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=2912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5623,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912\/revisions\/5623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jwforum.net\/portal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}