bruceq

4/17/2017 ON DOCUMENT
BEFORE THE BAN

Here we have a major milestone: the first official prosecutor's warning to a Jehovah's Witness about gathering AT HIS HOME for praying and reading the Bible with a threat of criminal prosecution.
Source: http://echo.msk.ru/doc/1967462-echo.html
 

Russian security police threaten Jehovah's Witnesses in wake of court's ruling
U.F.S.B. FOR KHABAROVSK TERRITORY WARNS: AFTER COURT'S DECISION TAKES EFFECT, CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AWAITS ALL WHO SUPPORT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
Portal-Credo.Ru, 21 April 2017
 
The religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses has still not been ruled to be extremist in Khabarovsk territory. The corresponding decision of the Russian Supreme Court has still not taken legal effect, although after it takes effect an organization and parishioners who will support it face criminal articles, IAAmurMedia was told on 21 April by an employee of the press service of the U.F.S.B. of Russia for Khabarovsk territory, Olga Alkina.
 
According to information of the press service of the U.F.S.B. of Russia for Khabarovsk territory, an affiliate of Jehovah's Witnesses exists fully legally as a local religious organization in the region.
 
"The decision of the Supreme Court has still not taken legal effect and this will not actually happen in the near future. As far as I know, the Administrative Center has filed an appeal of this decision. How long this litigation will continue is unknown," the employee of the press service of the agency explained.
 
If and when the decision takes legal effect, the directorate explained, the activity of the organization will cease, registration in the regional Ministry of Justice will be annulled, and property will be confiscated.
 
"Those who thereafter continue to conduct activity will fall under the purview of articles of the Criminal Code of the RF. Besides activists, parishioners who give money may be convicted, since financing extremist activity is also a criminal article," Olga Alkina threatened. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 April 2017)

Dispute between two priests leads to physical violence
TVER COURTS ACQUIT SCHISMATIC WHO STABBED ORTHODOX PRIEST WITH SCISSORS
Interfax-Religiia, 21 April 2017
 
Two courts in sequence in Tver province acquitted a "metropolitan" of the schismatic religious organization "Apostolic Orthodox Church," Oleg Zimaiev, who in September 2016 attacked with scissors the priest Oleg Filippov in his church and wounded his head and arm in the presence of two witnesses.
 
"Armed with scissors in his possession and using them as a weapon, he inflicted with them on O.P. Filippov no fewer than two blows in the area of the head, causing a wound in his right parietal region and a bruise on the second finger of the left hand," the court materials say, which Interfax has at its disposal.
 
As the injured priest stated in court, the conflict between him and O. Zimaev has a long history, stemming from the religious conflicts of the unrecognized Apostolic Church and the Moscow patriarchate. The conflict reached an acute stage after an argument in the cemetery near the church, where the burial of one of the leaders of the unrecognized Apostolic Church occurred.
 
A few days after the argument at the funeral, O. Zimaev entered the church of the village of Martynovo, Krasnokholmsk district, Tver province, where Father Oleg was rector, and he committed his attack.
 
O. Zimaev, who is a "metropolitan" of the schismatic organization that is not recognized by a single one of the local Orthodox churches, said that he wanted only to cut the hair of the Orthodox priest, and at the time he accidentally wounded him with the scissors.
 
This explanation satisfied both courts, which ruled to consider that the wounds caused by the "careless" actions were without intent to inflict wounds, for which no accountability is provided by law.
 
Also the courts refused to consider that the motive of A. Zimaev's actions was religious hostility, referring to the fact that the motive behind his actions was discontent on the basis of the conflict in the cemetery.
 
Thereby the courts supported the line of O. Zimaev's defence, which insisted that he cannot experience hostility against a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, since he thinks that the Moscow patriarchate and the Apostolic Church are a single whole.
 
"As evidence of this knowingly false thesis, O. Zimaev presented to the court forged documents of his affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church, and came to the session in metropolitan's vestments used in the Moscow patriarchate," the Tver metropolitinate told the news agency.
 
At the present moment, O. Zimaev, who committed the attack, is completely acquitted; the injured party plans to appeal the court's ruling at a higher judicial instance. (tr. by PDS, posted 23 April 2017)
 
AND THESE RUSSIAN COURTS AND APOSTATES SAY JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ARE "EXTREMIST"!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p050zhpv This BBC thought for the day is about the banning of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia by Rev. Fraser. And mentions this incident on this day in Germany!

Apr 24, 2017 10:24 GMT-4   Jehovah’s Witnesses Ban Spells End for Russia’s Religious Diversity (Op-Ed) The state may be the central actor, but its actions reflect the popular will of Russians everywhere.
April 24, 2017 — 11:15   — Update: 17:21 By Emily B. Baran emily.baran@mtsu.edu The history of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, illustrated in the museum of the Russian administrative center of Jehovah's Witnesses based in the town of Solnechnoye. Alexander Demianchuk / TASS  
This week the Russian Supreme Court declared the Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist organization. The ruling puts the Witnesses on par with ISIS and al-Qaida. The organization’s national center outside of St. Petersburg will be shuttered, and its members even more vulnerable to arrest simply for practicing their faith.
 
If the idea of Jehovah’s Witnesses posing any serious threat to national security seems absurd, it is, but it also has long roots in Russian society.
In the Soviet period, Communist Party-sponsored newspapers described the Witnesses as “fanatics” and “sectarians.” Ordinary believers were portrayed as ignorant rubes, duped into the shady underground world of sectarianism by unfortunate life circumstances and their own gullibility. The Soviet press drew an even less flattering portrait of elders in the Witness congregations, who were described as criminals, Nazi collaborators, drunkards, wife-beaters, deadbeats, and con-men.
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia Brace for a Final Blow  
When the Soviet Union collapsed, no one ever apologized for this disinformation or told the Russian people that the state had misjudged the Witnesses. On the contrary, the now-private media quickly seized on stale, anti-cult rhetoric of their Western counterparts.
Witnesses were no longer “anti-Soviet,” but they were still “sectarians” who “brainwashed” vulnerable citizens into joining a “totalitarian cult” that turned members into “zombies.”
Newspapers recounted horror stories of young people who fell into the Witnesses’ clutches, and desperate parents who called on the state to save their children from this predatory organization. It is little wonder that Russians developed a negative view of Witnesses.
The news media presented an image of the group as fundamentally incompatible with the new democratic system. By that logic, restricting the Witnesses actually upheld democratic values, while allowing Witnesses to “recruit” members denied citizens their basic freedoms.
First they were anti-Soviet fanatics. Then they were totalitarian sectarians. Now they are extremists.  
Prior the ruling, the more than 170,000 Russian Witnesses had legally registered with the government and certainly do not advocate violence against state or society. That may not matter in the end because the demonization of Witnesses has so eclipsed any sense of reality.
Perhaps this is what is most disheartening about the recent legal battle. The state may be the central actor, but its actions reflect the popular will of Russians who, by and large, have decided that Witnesses have no place in their society.
In this regard, even before the court decision, the Witnesses had already lost in the court of public opinion. This is not a good sign for the health of religious pluralism in Russia.
Dr. Emily B. Baran is Associate Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University. She is the author of Dissent on the Margins. How Soviet Jehovah's Witnesses Defied Communism and Lived to Preach About It.
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/jehovahs-witnesses-ban-spells-end-of-russias-religious-diversity-op-ed-57793
 

Update:
ZAMOSKVORECHE COURT OF MOSCOW REFUSES TO CANCEL SUSPENSION OF ACTIVITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN RUSSIA
Portal-Credo.Ru, 24 April 2017
 
The decision of the Russian Ministry of Justice regarding the suspension of the activity in Russia of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) is legal, the Zamoskovoreche court of Moscow ruled on 24 April. The judicial proceedings were conducted against the background of the decision of the Russian Supreme Court to ban the activity of the Administrative Center of JW, which has still not taken effect.
 
A former employee of the press service of the Administrative Center of JW in Russia, Ivan Belenko, told the website of Kavkazskii Uzel that the Zamoskvoreche district court denied the Administrative Center. "This trial became less relevant inasmuch as it challenged the act of suspension of the activity of our organization back before the issuance of the decision of the Russian Supreme Court. The results of the review of our lawsuit in the Zamoskvoreche court could hardly have an impact on anything," Ivan Belenko noted.
 
Ivan Belenko recalled that on 5 April, on the first day of hearing the administrative case of the lawsuit of the Ministry of Justice in the Russian Supreme Court, a lawyer for the Administrative Center filed a petition to postpone the hearing until the resolution of the lawsuit in the Zamoskvoreche district court. However the petition was denied. "The filing of the lawsuit and its consideration in the Zamoskvoreche court could have had an impact if the Russian Supreme Court could postpone the hearings," Ivan Belenko added.
 
"In all likelihood, the decision of the Supreme Court for liquidating the Administrative Center that was adopted earlier impacted the decision of the Zamoskvoreche district court. And this is evidence of a dangerous trend—following the Supreme Court, lower courts may take a course of subsequently denying Jehovah's Witnesses the protection of their constitutional rights," stated lawyer Anton Bogdanov, who represented the interests of the Administrative Center in the trial in the Zamoskvoreche district court.
 
"However the Administrative Center is continuing to appeal the justice ministry's order. Inasmuch as by this order, which still is in effect, organizations were caused substantial losses and also deprived of the right to freedom of religious confession," Anton Bogdanov added.
 
Bogdanov said that the decision of the Russian Supreme Court "has already led to consequences for the Jehovah's Witnesses. Law enforcement agencies are already making attempts to extend the action of the Supreme Court's decision for liquidation of a legal entity to simple believers, creating hindrances to their confessing their faith."
 
According to their organization's data, Jehovah's Witnesses are registered and conduct religious activity in 240 independent or partially independent countries of the world. The total number of Jehovah's Witnesses in the world is 8.3 million persons, including about 170 thousand in Russia. (tr. by PDS, posted 24 April 2017)
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
NOTICE THIS POINT FROM OUR BROTHERS: ""This trial became less relevant inasmuch as it challenged the act of suspension of the activity of our organization back before the issuance of the decision of the Russian Supreme Court. The results of the review of our lawsuit in the Zamoskvoreche court could hardly have an impact on anything," Ivan Belenko noted.

no it is not. it is confusing because we have multiple legal things going on at the same time in Russia and now they are all making the news
 this is an appeal from the Moscow District Court against Ministry of Justice and not an appeal to the Supreme Courts judgement.
The fact that this is now making more and more news is great for us as the JW Broadcast said about the "Witness" is is getting so every court ruling from anywhere in Russia is giving us all the more of a witness
As Jesus prophesied :"  And you will be brought before governors and kings+ for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations".+ MATT. 10:18

FROM RUSSIA LEGAL INFORMATION AGENCY:
Moscow court dismisses lawsuit filed by Jehovah’s Witnesses over suspension of activities
CONTEXT
Supreme Court orders liquidation of Jehovah's Witnesses organization in Russia Russian Supreme Court refuses to declare Jehovah's Witnesses victims of repressions Chair of Jehovah’s Witnesses branch fined for distributing extremist literature © flickr.com/smthng else Tags: lawsuit, Jehovah's Witnesses, Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky District Court, Russia, Moscow 16:13 24/04/2017 MOSCOW, April 24 (RAPSI) – The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Jehovah's Witnesses against Russian Justice Ministry over suspension of the organization’s activities in Russia, RAPSI reported from the courtroom on Monday.
On March 15, the Justice Ministry has suspended activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses until the Supreme Court’s review of a petition filed by authorities asking to declare religious organization extremist. On April 20, Russia’s Supreme Court banned the Administrative Centre of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist organization. The Centre and all its 395 branches are to be liquidated.
Jehovah's Witnesses claim that such actions as the Ministry’s lawsuit over liquidation are perpetrated to limit religious freedoms and that 175,000 followers of the organization will be affected.
According to the Justice Ministry, violations of the law “On Combatting Extremism” were revealed during inspection conducted in the organization. The Prosecutor General’s Office’s notice concerning inadmissibility of carrying out extremist activities by Jehovah's Witnesses has taken effect, the Ministry said. Since 2009, 95 materials distributed by the organization in Russia have been declared extremist and 8 Jehovah's Witnesses’ branches have been liquidated.
Jehovah’s Witnesses organization has had many legal problems in Russia.
On January 25, chairman of the Jehovah’s Witnesses branch in the town of Dzerzhinsk was fined 4,000 rubles ($67) for keeping and distributing extremist literature banned in Russia.
On October 12, 2015, a court in the Jewish Autonomous Region ruled to ban a branch of “The Jehovah’s Witnesses” in Birobidzhan because of distributing extremist literature by the organization.
On June 16, 2015, Russia’s Supreme Court declared “The Jehovah’s Witnesses of Stary Oskol” in the Belgorod Region an extremist organization and ruled to liquidate it.
On June 9, 2015, the Jehovah’s Witnesses of Belgorod was banned as extremist organization.
In March 2015, a court in Tyumen fined the organization 50,000 rubles ($792) and seized prohibited literature.
In January 2014, a court in Kurgan ruled to ban the organization’s booklets as extremist. The books talk about how to have a happy life, what you can hope for, how to develop good relations with God and what you should know about God and its meaning.
In late December 2013, the leader of the organization’s group in Tobolsk, Siberia was charged with extremism and the prevention of a blood transfusion that nearly led to the death of a female member of the group.
In 2004, a court in Moscow dissolved and banned a Jehovah’s Witnesses group on charges of recruiting children, encouraging believers to break from their families, inciting suicide and preventing believers from accepting medical assistance.
Jehovah's Witnesses is an international religious organization based in Brooklyn, New York. Since 2004 several branches and chapters of the organization were banned and shut down in various regions of Russia.
..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
 
Appears this is an appeal from the Moscow District Court against Ministry of Justice and not an appeal to the Supreme Courts judgement. All this legal stuff is giving me a headache. But a witness is being given nevertheless!
As Jesus prophesied :"  And you will be brought before governors and kings+ for my sake, for a witness to them and the nations".+ MATT. 10:18

Tass is reporting that the appeal was not accepted so not sure about what is happening Monday???
 {MONDAY MEANS TODAY 24...IT WAS REJECTED BY COURT SEE BELOW]
Moscow, RIA "Orenburg" .  Russia and the World April 24, 2017, 9:35 "JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES" APPEALED THE BAN TO WORK IN RUSSIA

  Zamoskvoretskiy Moscow court on Monday will consider the complaint at the disposal of Russian Ministry of Justice to suspend the activities of the parent organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" in Russia, which in the last week, the Supreme Court acknowledged extremist and liquidated, said court spokesman Emilia Gil.
- The Court will hold a hearing on the merits of the statement of claim "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses to the Ministry of Justice, - said the spokesman.
The Ministry of Justice issued a decree suspended the "Jehovah's Witnesses" to complete the process in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, where the Ministry to seek recognition of the organization extremist, its elimination and prohibition. Meanwhile, the Russian Federation Supreme Court has already satisfied the requirements of the Ministry of Justice and Home banned organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" in Russia, recognizing it as the extremist. The court also decided to confiscate the property of the organization. Now the followers of "Jehovah's Witnesses" faces criminal responsibility for the continuation of its activities.
As indicated by a lawyer agency work "Jehovah's Witnesses" generates threat protection of the rights and interests of the society and public safety. She referred to the court decisions that have recognized the 95 brochures "Jehovah's Witnesses" extremist, as well as the activities of eight organizations in the regions of Russia. company lawyers countered that the claims were brought to passages from the "Bible", in addition, the authorities did not reconsider the question of the presence of extremism in those leaflets after making changes to the law on such crimes.
Ministry of Justice, in particular, imposes "Jehovah's Witnesses" to blame the refusal to accept blood transfusions. Meanwhile, the lawyers of the organization said that the refusal of blood transfusions is not extremism - of the act in the law on combating extremist activities there. He noted that the Ministry of Justice gave an example of only a single case where the doctors offered to parents are two alternative methods of treatment, one of which provided for a blood transfusion. But parents want to treat the child medication.
"Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" - an umbrella organization branch manager "Jehovah's Witnesses" in the Russian Federation. In this religious organization regularly have problems with the law in Russia - from the court decisions banning the activity and the elimination of departments to penalties for possession of extremist materials.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have launched an appeal against a court ruling banning the organization from Russia.
Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky Court will hear the appeal on Monday, a court spokesperson said.
Russia's Supreme Court ruled to ban the Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia last week after branding them an “extremist organization.”
The church's property is currently being seized by the government, and believers will face criminal charges if they continue to meet or distribute literature. 
Read More: Jehovah’s Witnesses Ban Spells End for Russia’s Religious Diversity (Op-Ed)  
The Justice Ministry has defended its decision as being "in the interest of public safety," claiming that the organization "threatens human rights."
It particularly condemned believers' refusal to accept blood transfusions and publications which it claimed presented the Jehovah's Witnesses as a "superior" religion.
https://themoscowtimes.com/news/jehovahs-witnesses-launch-appeal-against-russia-ban-57797

NOTICE THIS POINT FROM OUR BROTHERS: ""This trial IN MOSCOW became less relevant inasmuch as it challenged the act of suspension of the activity of our organization back before the issuance of the decision of the Russian Supreme Court. The results of the review of our lawsuit in the Zamoskvoreche court could hardly have an impact on anything," Ivan Belenko noted.

Moscow court turns down Jehovah’s Witnesses bid to fight Justice Ministry’s ban
World April 24, 16:08UTC+3
On April 20, Russia’s Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses to be an extremist organization Share 5               Russian administrative centre of Jehovah's Witnesses
© Alexandr Demyanchuk/TASS MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky court has rejected a lawsuit filed by the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group against the Justice Ministry’s ruling on banning its activity in Russia, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.
The organization asked the court to recognize the Justice Ministry’s ruling as illegal and order its cancellation. "The court decided to reject the lawsuit of the religious organization "Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center in Russia," Judge Nelli Rubtsova said.
 
READ ALSO Russia’s Supreme Court bans Jehovah’s Witnesses as extremist organization  
On April 20, Russia’s Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses to be an extremist organization and outlawed its activity throughout Russia, thereby upholding the Justice Ministry’s requests. The court declared the immediate shutdown of all 395 local chapters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and transferred the organization’s assets into state custody. Jehovah’s Witnesses said it would appeal the decision.
In its lawsuit, the Justice Ministry pointed to various violations by the organization’s activities revealed during a surprise inspection, including of the Law on Counteracting Extremist Activities.
On October 12, 2016, Moscow’s Tverskoy district court issued a warning to the Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center based on revelations of extremism there. Under Russian law, a religious association or organization is subject to termination if it does not remedy the specified manifestations of extremism before the required deadline or displays any new ones.
Jehovah’s Witnesses is an international religious organization that supports offbeat views on the essence of the Christian faith and provides special interpretations of many commonly accepted notions.


More:
http://tass.com/world/942943

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/04/as_it_bans_jehovahs_witnesses.html   [ARTICLE BY A NON-WITNESS]
As it bans Jehovah's Witnesses, Russia is the same old evil empire
  PrintEmail By Frances Coleman 
on April 21, 2017 at 10:12 AM, updated April 21, 2017 at 10:33 AM       Ronald Reagan gave his 'evil empire' speech in 1983.Washington Times            Thank you, Vladimir Putin, for reminding Americans who you really are.
            Thank you for demonstrating anew - in case there were any of us naive enough to believe that your country and our country are not so different - that, in fact, Russia and the United States are fundamentally different.
            And thank you for the fresh evidence that -- although some people foolishly underestimated him and others just as foolishly idolized him - the late President Ronald Reagan was onto something when he called your country "the evil empire."
            Because you are evil. Despite the come-apart of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and some early indications back then that Russians would embrace democratic principles, your country is still repressive and authoritarian. Like the USSR of days gone by, it brutally punishes people for expressing anti-government beliefs. (And, of course, we've noticed that from time to time, you yourself like to have troublesome dissidents murdered.)
            In the past year, we've seen your government meddle in other countries' elections and we've come to understand that "meddle" is a euphemism for your wicked intent to manipulate governments and populations worldwide.
            Now we're seeing religious persecution, Russian style, and it as ugly and evil as it ever was.
            As you know, in recent days your government has banned Jehovah's Witnesses and criminalized their worship practices. The government can now seize their buildings and assets. They are forbidden to hold services or conduct door-to-door evangelizing. Their literature is deemed "extremist."
            People who ignore this ban will face fines of several thousand dollars and up to 10 years in prison.
            In our country, Mr. Putin, freedom of religion is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. We cherish it, but we also take it for granted. Sometimes, when we're being intellectually lazy, we assume that it's a value shared worldwide.
The more you persecute people for their religious beliefs, the more determined they will become.               Then the Russian government bans an entire religion, and we remember that it's not.
            I am not a Jehovah's Witness. I've never been to one of their services or done an extensive study of their beliefs. Like many American believers, I assume that I know more about other faiths than I actually do.
            But this I do know, sir, and you should know it as well: The more you persecute people for their religious beliefs -- the more you declare them seditionists and extremists and a threat to public order -- the more determined they will become. A certain number of them will be frightened and intimidated, but a core group will resist you every day, in every way they can, for as long as they draw breath.
            If you seize their buildings, then they will worship in one another's homes. If you ban their literature, then they will produce more, and if they can't produce more, then they'll share their beliefs verbally. If you say they cannot evangelize publicly, then they will evangelize privately, one-on-one, regardless of the risk of being outed.
            And the more you remind your countrymen that Jehovah's Witnesses' headquarters are in the United States, the more the Witnesses may remind you that the kingdom of the God they worship is not of this world.
            Truth is, Mr. Putin, the Russia of the 21st century is in many ways the Soviet Union of the 20th century. We need to have a politically useful and globally practical relationship with your country, but we don't need to forget that you are not us and we are not you.
            Remember the adage that says a leopard can't change its spots? Your country is that leopard, Mr. Putin, and you haven't changed a bit.
            By the way, if you're interested in reading that particular adage in full, you'll find it in the Old Testament, in the 13th chapter of the Book of Jeremiah.
            If you don't happen to have a Bible handy, ask a local Jehovah's Witness. I imagine he or she will be happy to share.
            Frances Coleman is a freelance writer living in Baldwin County. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and "like" her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances.

Pickets took place in Moscow in defense of Jehovah's Witnesses in front of the Ministry of Justice building. I understand we don't participate in such actions, but let's refrain from criticizing these people since they are not Jehovah's Witnesses.
Pickets read:
"Ban of Jehovah's Witnesses is a violation of the principle of freedom of belief."
"Jehovah's Witnesses were banned under Stalin and Hitler, and now Putin. Good company."
"Bibelforscher. What for? I don't agree with the ban of Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of RF and think this is a wrong method."
"Freedom is always a risk and search. Banning is easier. 178,000 people - no problem."
"Jehovah's Witnesses are peaceful people, hands off their property."
"I'm not a Jehovah's Witness. Just don't want to go to North Korea."
"Christians against evil and repression."
"Stop repression against Jehovah's Witnesses!"
source https://twitter.com/Chivchalov?lang=en

True there are also Political and press and many organizations undergoing restrictions for many years although interestingly USCIRF stated last week " it would mark the first time that Russia legally has banned a centrally-administered religious organization and would effectively criminalize all Jehovah’s Witnesses’. Of course freedom is not just religious but press and free speech are all being restricted. And those restrictions of freedom effect all that make up Jehovah's Witnesses : Press, Speech, Religion...Interesting that being "no part of the World" makes one  stand out to be picked on.
{of course a criminal organization as JW are now is quite different than a simple undesirable organization}.

THE MOSCOW TIMES https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russia-bans-protest-movement-ahead-of-rallies-planned-for-saturday-57831
This Wednesday, three days before the political movement “Open Russia” hopes to mobilize nationwide protests against the Kremlin, Russia’s Prosecutor General blacklisted the group as an “undesirable organization,” banning all its activities.
This Saturday, Open Russia is planning anti-Putin demonstrations across Russia. 
Russian officials formally blacklisted three separate organizations: the Britain-registered “Open Russia” organization, the social movement “Open Russia,” and the U.S.-based Institute of Modern Russia. Open Russia was founded by exiled former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, whose son heads IMR in New York.
“Their activities are aimed at inciting protests and destabilizing [Russia’s] domestic political situation, presenting a threat to the constitutional foundations of the Russian Federation and the security of the state,” the Prosecutor General explained in a public statement.
Two American NGOs Declared 'Undesirable' in Russia The decision makes it a criminal offense in Russia to work for Open Russia or IMR.
Russia’s law against “undesirable organizations” took effect in May 2015. Any group added to the list is immediately banned in Russia, and anyone who continues to work for these organizations faces serious fines and possible incarceration.

POLITICAL ERROR OF COUNTRY'S LEADERSHIP
Interview with Vladimir Riakovsky, attorney and member of the presidential Council for Human Rights, about ban of Jehovah's Witnesses
by Roman Lunkin
Religiia i Pravo, 24 April 2017
 
On 20 April, the Russian Supreme Court ruled the Russian Jehovah's Witnesses to be an extremist organization and prohibited its activity on the territory of Russia. Thereby the lawsuit of the Russian Ministry of Justice for finding the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" to be extremist, banning its activity, and liquidating it was granted. The Ministry of Justice demanded banning the activity of the Administrative Center and also 395 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses. In their turn, lawyers for the Jehovah's Witnesses previously asked the Russian Supreme Court to receive from them a counter suit "for finding the religious organization to be victims of political repressions." The court refused to accept the lawsuit. Lawyers for the defendant complained that even before the issuance of the judicial decision, Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to persecution. A lawyer for the organization also declared that "the majority of established incidents of distribution of forbidden materials are slander." "The fact is established that the forbidden materials were planted on us. All of the arguments of the Ministry of Justice are constructed on unfounded accusations, forgeries, and false testimonies," he said. The leader of the Russian Jehovah's Witnesses, Vasily Kalin, declared that the current judicial proceedings have attracted attention and evoked condemnation from the world community.
 
--Roman Lunkin: Esteemed Vladimir Vasilievich, how much does the decision about the ban of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia affect on the whole the situation of associations of other confessions and religions? How does one assess the religious policy of the government?
 
--Vladimir Riakhovsky:  For a stretch of nine months in our country, legislation has been in effect regulating missionary activity, that is, the well known Yarovaya Law. At the present time, judicial practice has accumulated from approximately 100 different kinds of cases that, one way or another, affect individual groups of believers and preachers. For the most part, decisions adopted regarding fines for alleged illegal evangelism have been unjust and unjustified. A purposeful attempt to strictly control missionary activity is evidenced by the fact that the first case against a believer on the basis of the Yarovaya Law occurred on just the second day after this law took effect.
 
In the Yarovaya Law itself there are many ambiguities and vague wordings, and the text itself and the approach chosen by law enforcement are contradictory. For the period of initial application of this law it was possible to ascribe decisions to incorrect understanding of the provisions of the law by judges. However after this decision of the Russian Supreme Court on the ban of the Jehovah's Witnesses, illusions have been dispelled. Now it is obvious that a definite order exists.
 
Today a harsh decision has been adopted with regard to Jehovah's Witnesses, but on the whole this decision and, it turns out, policy as a whole are aimed against nontraditional confessions in Russia.
 
It is not entirely clear, in this case, why it was necessary for the Russian Supreme Court to consider the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses on the merits and to devote several days to this. The hearings and arguments revealed with all obviousness the groundlessness of the arguments of the Russian Ministry of Justice.
 
I followed the proceedings attentively and attended the first judicial session in the capacity of an observer from the Council on Human Rights under the president of the Russian federation. In addition, believers produced a direct broadcast of the sessions from the courtroom, a video and text broadcast, and therefore everyone can be acquainted in detail with what happened in the Russian Supreme Court. I am well acquainted with the plaintiff's declaration and the defense objections of the Jehovah's Witnesses.
 
I am convinced that the justice ministry's lawsuit was built on assumptions that became clear in the course of the judicial session. Local religious organizations are not subdivisions of the Administrative Center, and therefore by law the decision regarding the liquidation of the center cannot be extended to them. At the same time, local organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses are members of the canonical structure of the Administrative Center, which is the internal arrangement of the religious association. And the government does not have the right to interfere in the internal arrangement of a religious organization, which is even noted in the law on freedom of conscience. A contradiction also consists in the fact that during judicial trials in the regions, the Russian Ministry of Justice and the courts refused to involve the Administrative Center in the consideration of cases for finding Jehovah's Witnesses' literature to be extremist; that is, it did not recognize local congregations to be subdivisions of the center, but the plaintiff's declaration insisted on the other way around, in order to ban all the other organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses.
 
--What will be the immediate consequences of the Russian Supreme Court's decision with regard to Jehovah's Witnesses?
 
--The Russian Supreme Court made the decision that the decision to terminate the activity of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses will take effect immediately. That means that even now, from the point of view of the plaintiff's declaration of the Russian Ministry of Justice, the activity of local religious organizations should stop and also any meetings of believers (the Jehovah's Witnesses state that besides the 395 organizations they also have 2,000 groups). The property of the Administrative Center is supposed to be confiscated for government use. With the liquidation of local religious organizations that are, in the opinion of the Russian Ministry of Justice, a part of an organization that has been found to be "extremist," their property also will be confiscated for government use. There also exists the possibility of an appeal within a month after the release of the rationale of the decision.
 
At the start of consideration of this case in the Russian Supreme Court there was still a glimmer of hope that the court would base its decision on the supremacy of the law and not on the momentary political conjunction. Moreover, it was evident that the lawyers for the Russian Ministry of Justice were not prepared for most of the questions and were unable to argue their position. The judges closed their eyes to this and granted the lawsuit of the Russian Ministry of Justice in full; that is, with the ban of all subdivisions of the Jehovah's Witnesses and with the confiscation of property.
 
All the efforts of the Russian Ministry of Justice and of law enforcement agencies were thrown into the preparation of this judicial trial. Throughout Russia, trials of congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses were conducted, which should rather be called "events" which did not comply with the framework of the law and contradicted common sense.
 
--In your view, will there be any political consequences of the decision of the Russian Supreme Court?
 
--The adoption of the decision to ban a whole religious movement is a political error of our country's leadership. Undoubtedly, rights advocates and international organizations will be given the standard answer that the government cannot influence the court's decision and the court is formally independent. However it is now obvious to everybody that this is not the case—a political order for the ban on believers is obvious to everybody.
 
I would like to know whether anybody among the representatives of the government analyzed the consequences of this decision. Will Jehovah's Witnesses really scatter to their homes and not assemble any more? As the experience of Germany and the Soviet Union shows, prohibitions will not stop the Jehovah's Witnesses. It turns out that the government itself is driving a large confession into the underground. Now this has to happen. Criminal cases are inevitable after the Russian Supreme Court's decision. If law enforcement agencies receive, for example, a denunciation that a meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses is happening somewhere, then the police will be bound to react; otherwise by law this would be covering up a crime. The very participation in Bible reading and prayer by Jehovah's Witnesses will be participation in the activity of a banned organization. This is the substance of a crime.
 
I would like to pose a question: who needs such problems and has history really not taught us anything? Russia's image is not very positive on the international stage and now our country will be identified as a state that persecutes believers. This is political short-sightedness that it is difficult to call anything other than a provocation.
 
--From your point of view, what is the meaning of the statements of approval by the leader of the Russian State Duma committee that is responsible, inter alia, for religious associations, Sergei Gavrilov, with respect to the Russian Supreme Court's decision?
 
--I suggest that the words of Deputy Sergei Gavrilov about the necessity of activating work for reassessing the activity of "non-traditional religious associations" in Russia may be considered to be the logical culmination of the campaign against the Jehovah's Witnesses. The member of parliament urged paying attention to how other associations relate to Orthodoxy, patriotism, and love for the fatherland. The deputy's statement is not accidental within the framework of the general context. Although it is unlikely that this will add votes for the deputies in elections. Does this mean that we now should reconsider the Russian constitution and the right to profess and disseminate one's religion? Or will the country continue along the present path and close its eyes to everything, to justice, to law, to common sense, and accept unjust decisions. In any case, faith in just decisions has already been undermined. The Russian Supreme Court itself has shown an example of the appearance of justice. Moreover, nobody sees and can even explain the logic of the present persecution of believers in Russia. (tr. by PDS, posted 26 April 2017)

USCIRF Releases 2017 Annual Report
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 26, 2017 USCIRF Releases 2017 Annual Report
USCIRF Recommends Russia be Designated a Country of Particular Concern
WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2017 Annual Report on the state of religious freedom in selected countries. “Overall,” said USCIRF Chair Thomas Reese, S.J., “The Commission has concluded that the state of affairs for international religious freedom is worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations.  In the 2017 report, the Commission calls for Congress and the administration to stress consistently the importance of religious freedom abroad, for everyone, everywhere, in public statements and public and private meetings.”
The International Religious Freedom Act requires the U.S. government to designate as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, any country whose government engages in or tolerates particularly severe religious freedom violations that are systematic, ongoing, and egregious. To fulfill USCIRF’s mandate to advise the State Department on which countries should be designated as CPC, the Commission researches and monitors religious freedom conditions abroad and issues an annual report on countries with serious violations of religious freedom.
This year’s report calls on the Secretary of State to designate Russia as a CPC partly due to its continued use of its “anti-extremism” law as a tool to repeatedly curtail religious freedoms for various faiths, most recently the Jehovah’s Witnesses.  “The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ right to religious freedom is being eliminated through a flawed application of this law," commented USCIRF’s Chair, Thomas Reese, S.J.  “The recent Russian Supreme Court ruling bans the legal existence of the group throughout Russia.”
In 2017, USCIRF recommends that the State Department again designate the following 10 countries as CPCs: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. USCIRF also finds that six other countries meet the CPC standard and should be so designated: Central African Republic, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam.
In 2017, USCIRF places the following 12 countries, where religious freedom violations are severe but do not fully meet the CPC standard, on the Commission’s Tier 2 list:  Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, and Turkey.
USCIRF remains concerned about the “securitization” of religious freedom, citing Bahrain as an example where the government has cracked down on the Shi’a Muslim majority yet the U.S. administration is lifting human rights conditions on weapons sales to that country.  USCIRF Chair, Thomas Reese, S.J., said that “Religious freedom should not suffer under the guise of seeking to ensure national security.”
Some governments have made efforts to address religious freedom concerns. For example, USCIRF does not recommend Egypt and Iraq for CPC designation in 2017, as it had for Egypt since 2011 and Iraq since 2008.  In Egypt, while ISIS affiliates increasingly targeted Coptic Christians, the government took some positive steps to address religious freedom concerns, although the rest of its human rights record has been abysmal. In Iraq, while the Iraqi government has sought to curb sectarian tensions, ISIS has committed genocide, ruthlessly targeting anyone who does not espouse its extremist ideology.  
For years, USCIRF has recognized and documented how non-state actors are some of the most egregious violators of religious freedom.  The Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act of 2016 requires the President to identify non-state actors engaging in particularly severe violations of religious freedom and designate each as an “entity of particular concern” (EPC).   The act defines a non-state actor as “a non-sovereign entity that exercises significant political power and territorial control; is outside the control of a sovereign government; and often employs violence in pursuit of its objectives.” 
Accordingly, for the first time, USCIRF recommends that the following three non-state actors be designated as EPCs: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria; the Taliban in Afghanistan; and al-Shabaab in Somalia.
To view the full USCIRF 2017 Annual Report visit www.USCIRF.gov.
SEE ALSO http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/russia-escalates-violations-of-religious-freedom-20170426.html?mobi=true

Website of Russian Ministry of Justice posts results of trial
DOCUMENT: FOR THE INFORMATION OF CITIZENS ADDRESSING THE RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF JUSTICE REGARDING THE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION "ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN RUSSIA"
 
In connection with numerous appeals to the Russian Ministry of Justice from citizens of the Russian federation and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States on questions of the activity of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia," the Russian Ministry of Justice reports the following.
 
In the period from 8 to 27 February 2017 the Russian Ministry of Justice conducted an unscheduled documentary inspection of the compliance of the activity of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" with the goals and task declared in its charter and with legislation of the Russian federation.
 
As a result of the inspection, it was established that the activity of the aforesaid organization is conducted with violations of the charter goals and tasks and also of current legislation of the Russian federation, including the federal law of 25 July 2002, "On combating extremist activity."
 
Thus, 95 materials of the Jehovah's Witnesses, which had been imported and distributed on the territory of the Russian federation since 2009 were found to be extremist. In the same period, 8 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses were found to be extremist and were liquidated. In connection with this, on 2 March 2016 the office of the prosecutor general of the Russian federation issued to the organization a warning in accordance with article 7 of the federal law "On combating extremist activity." Said warning was appealed by the organization in court, but it was ruled to be legal and reasonable.
 
On 15 March 2017, the Russian Ministry of Justice filed in the Supreme Court of the Russian federation an administrative plaintiff's declaration for finding the organization to be extremist, banning its activity, and liquidating it and removing information from the Uniform State Register of Legal Entities.
 
On 20 April 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian federation granted the administrative plaintiff's declaration of the Russian Ministry of Justice for finding the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" to be extremist and banning its activity.
 
24 April 2017
(tr. by PDS, posted 27 April 2017)
 
Russian original posted on official website of Russian Ministry of Justice, 24 April 2017
{THIS NOW MEANS OUR BROTHERS CAN LEGALLY FILE THE APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURTS DECISION]

Ban of Jehovah's Witnesses accompanied by violence
SUPREME COURT DECISION PROVOKES VIOLENT ACT OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE IN ST. PETERSBURG
Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 25 April 2017
 
Several hours after the Russian Supreme Court announced the decision about liquidating the center of Jehovah's Witnesses, late in the evening of 20 April 2017 a group of men drove up in two passenger cars to the largest Jehovah's Witnesses' house of worship in St. Petersburg, located on Kolomyazhsky Prospect. They blocked the exit from the building with the vehicles. One of the visitors, shouting insults against the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses and threats of physical harm, threw cobblestones previously readied against the façade of the building, including glass doors and windows. The house of worship was substantially damaged.
 
Such a development of events was predicted by lawyers speaking in court. Somewhat earlier in that day, speaking during the debates, Maksim Novakov, who represented the Jehovah's Witnesses' center, predicted that the trial may provoke a wave of violence against Witnesses: from damage to property to attacks on believers on the basis of religious hatred. These are the inevitable consequences of groundlessly ranking peaceful people along with dangerous criminals. (tr. by PDS, posted 27 April 2017)
 
[PLEASE CONTINUE OUR PRAYERS FOR OUR BROTHERS SAFETY DURING THESE CRITICAL TIMES AND FOR JEHOVAH'S WILL TO BE DONE].

NO ACTUALLY IT WAS 2009 THE YEAR THE MINISTRY STARTED STRENGTHENING  ITS CAMPAIGN AGAINST JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES. 

HEY WE BOTH POSTED THE SAME SCRIPTURE AT THE SAME TIME LOL 

JUST FOUND OUT DVORKIN IS AN  "ANTI-CULTIST" AND IS PART OF THE "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE" OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION - NO WONDER JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES DID NOT GET ANY JUSTICE FROM THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE : 
RUSSIA | CHURCH [ back ]  
Photo via blagovest-info.ru Alexander Dvorkin heads the new commission on religion On 3 April, Alexander Dvorkin, the Russian priest most famous for the defamation of religious groups not belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Orthodox faith, was elected Chairman of the Justice Department’s “Commission for the Implementation of State Expertise on Religious Science”, reports Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. This committee had been officially founded a month earlier on 3 March. Dvorkin, a US citizen and according to some reports a 1983 graduate of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood/New York, is a self-avowed specialist on the cults. He is known for the broken glass and other acts of vandalism committed against religious buildings following in the wake of his public appearances across Russia. The result of his election was a vociferous and immediate outcry from academic experts on religion and others acknowledging the multi-ethnic and multi-religious character of Russian society. Citing Russian literature, the religion expert Michael Sitnikov compared Dvorkin’s election to “authorising the donkey to guard the vegetable patch”.
http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue5494.html
SEE ALSO PG. 79 OF THE BOOK "BELIEVING IN RUSSIA RELIGIOUS POLICY AFTER RUSSIA BY FAGAN :
 
 

AND NOW THE U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM HAS STATED:
 “The Russian government’s latest actions appear designed to eliminate the legal existence of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. If the Supreme Court rules in April that this group is ‘extremist’ it would mark the first time that Russia legally has banned a centrally-administered religious organization and would effectively criminalize all Jehovah’s Witnesses’ activity nationwide. USCIRF calls on the Russian government to stop its harassment of this peaceful religious group.”
http://www.uscirf.gov/news-room/press-releases/russia-russia-suspends-jehovah-s-witnesses
AND NOW JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ARE BANNED IN RUSSIA.
Society April 20, 2017, 20:34 Ivan Ovechkin  The State Duma will examine the Court's decision, "Jehovah's Witnesses"
Legal precedent will develop new laws to protect the rights of believers
  The State Duma will examine the Court's decision, "Jehovah's Witnesses". Legal precedent will develop new laws to protect the rights of believers, told "Izvestia" of the Civil Society Development of the State Duma Committee, the issues of public and religious associations Sergey Gavrilov.
"It's a legal precedent, even though we no case law, but it is important to examine the details of the case, that we once took the decision to protect the rights of believers. We have adopted a number of amendments to the anti-extremist legislation. If you remember, the Russian parliament passed an amendment relating to the limitation antilegal missionary. Therefore, it is important to study this matter, because we may in the future have to use it in their law-making ", - said Gavrilov.
In his opinion, Russia has a lot of religious organizations whose activities are under question. 
"All organizations that we exist, except for the traditional religions, should be investigated for the protection of the interests of traditional morality, traditional Russian values, institutions respect for the family's neighbor care and love for the Fatherland. In my opinion, a lot of organizations today do not meet these criteria, "- said Gavrilov.
Earlier Thursday, the Supreme Court of Russia declared the Russian representation of "Jehovah's Witnesses" extremist organization and banned its operation in the country.