bruceq

Kazan Jehovah's Witnesses sure to carry on
WE WILL GO UNDERGROUND—WE WILL NOT ABANDON OUR FAITH
Thousands of members of the Kazan congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses are outlawed.
Experts are sure that they will not simply surrender.
 by Damara Khairulina, Tatyana Mamaeva
Real Time, 21 April 2017
 
The Russian Supreme Court ruled the organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" to be extremist and it banned its activity. Thereby the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses will be prohibited and all property will be confiscated for state use. Experts questioned by Real Time suppose that the organization will without fail appeal the court's decision, and the ban on the activity will evoke a "hysterical" reaction. Representatives themselves of the regional committee of Witnesses declare that the adherents of the organization will be forced to go underground.
 
Extremist organization
 
Yesterday the Russian Supreme Court found the Jehovah's Witnesses to be an extremist organization, liquidated it, and prohibited its activity on the territory of the country. Thereby the plaintiff's demand of the Russian Ministry of Justice was granted. The court ordered the immediate cessation of the activity of all 395 divisions of the Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of the country and the conversion of the organization's property into state income.
 
Yet earlier, on 3 March, the Russian Ministry of Justice suspended the activity of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" because of its conducting extremist activity. On 6 April the ministry demanded through the court the confiscation of the organization's property.
 
The Ministry of Justice maintains that the organization distributes extremist literature. The ministry also found extremism in the activity of the local organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Birobidzhan.
 
According to 2015 data, there were 408 registered local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses. In Tatarstan alone there are five. The earliest of the functioning registered groups was in the city of Zainsk (1996) and a year later a division appeared in Nizhnekamsk. In January 2001 a local religious organization was registered in Kazan and in 2002, in Nabereshny Chelny and Almetevsk.
 
They hang a label on us
 
Representatives of the Kazan division of Witnesses say that their organization is peace-loving and has no indicators of extremism. Moreover, the "Jehovah's Witnesses are people who submit to authority."
 
"Our fellow believers have never been observed in demonstrations of protest against the existing authorities or in the use of arms and violence. It is out of the ordinary and it has never happened," says Artem Emelianov, the chairman of the committee of the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses of Kazan.
 
"The most serious accusation is the existence of literature that has been ruled extremist. In Taganrog there was a trial and our fellow believes were given a suspended sentence for that. In Tatarstan we have not faced anything similar, which makes us happy," Vitaly Solianik, a representative of the organization in Kazan, added.
 
Speaking of whether the financing of the organization could go to financing extremist groups, Solianik noted that the Witnesses "continually give account before the Ministry of Justice" and that is theoretically impossible. And actually, in the data base Spark-Interfax scheduled inspections of the Ministry of Justice are recorded.
 
"We provide contracted expenses for every kopek. The Ministry of Justice verifies us and no violations have ever been found where we use means other than as intended. There have been no claims in this regard against us."
 
Representatives of the organization say that now the number of adherents of the Witnesses in Kazan may constitute about 1,000 persons.
 
"We are restricted. We cannot conduct congresses or rent facilities. If we make an agreement, the action is cut off," Emelianov says. "They hang on us the label of extremists. Supposedly our literature enflames religious hostility, which does not correspond to reality."
 
At the same time the Kazan Jehovists maintain that all literature that was previously ruled to be extremist is immediately removed after the bans.
 
Totalitarian, destructive sect
 
However the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church is unambiguous.
 
"Naturally, the Jehovah's Witnesses are a totalitarian, destructive sect, and it is as such a sect that the RPTs deals with them," the monastic priest Viacheslav told Real Time; he is the chairman of the Kazan diocese Department for Combating Drug Addiction and Alcoholism. "How are the Jehovah's Witnesses dangerous? They zombify people. They turn them against traditional confessions. They have a whole string of stupid prohibitions that are harmful for believers. For example, the prohibition on blood transfusion. In essence, they are not Christians, they interpret the Bible very freely, and they do not recognize Christ. I think that they are a far from poor organization; their center is located in America and so you can conclude who finances them."
 
The hieromonk also noted that the organization is not recognized "even by protestants."
 
"In various countries they are treated differently; where there is so-called 'liberty' they prosper. For example, in Ukraine there is a large sect. And what did this lead to? To Jehovah's Witnesses."
 
Representatives of Islam treat the Witnesses no less critically
 
"From the point of view of our Muslims, they do a great deal to, say, incite inter-ethnic strife. In particular, for a long time representatives of this group, sect, congregation went about apartments and offered also in Kazan colorful books substituting terminology. People took these books but then they came to the mosque with questions: 'What is this literature in which everything is turned upside down,'" Farid Salman, the director of the Center for the Study of the Holy Quran and the Pure Sunna.
 
It is rather difficult to become a Jehovah's Witness
 
Representatives of the Kazan division of the organization talk about the attitude toward them in society, that is often explained by prevailing incorrect stereotypes. For example, whether to accept the procedure of blood transfusion, each adherent has the right to decide for himself, Emelianov says.
 
"As regards blood transfusion, in many countries the method of blood transfusion is considered dangerous. There is the danger of contracting HIV, hepatitis, and various causes of allergic reactions. Many civilized countries reject this method. We also wish for ourselves only good. Each of our fellow believers chooses what fits them. There is no prohibition. That is a myth."
 
Emelianov calls a stereotype the opinion established in society that Witnesses sign over their property to the organization, and that people are forced to join the Witnesses by coercion.
 
"Actually, it is rather difficult to become a Witness. One must give up smoking if they smoked, reject the use of drugs, reject a profligate lifestyle, register one's marriage, and make serious changes in life. Not everyone is ready for such changes. And in order to cease to be a member if a person ceases to conduct a proper form of life. Nobody will persecute him—that's a myth."
 
The Kazan subdivision has published accountability and according to its data it is not especially wealthy, although many Orthodox parishes could envy such financial indicators. According to data of Rosstat, according to the results of 2015, the capital and reserve of the Kazan local religious organization was 13.6 million rubles. Of these, 5.2 million were tangible assets. In the year, the organization received income and other valuables of 5.1 million rubles. That is, approximately 5,000 for each member of the organization. There are not data on official finances of the other four Tatarstan organizations.
 
Is forbidden fruit sweet?
 
On the question of what Kazan Jehovists will do in the future, they answer confidently: "We will go underground; you do not abandon the faith." And at the same time Jehovists plan to defend their organization in court.
 
Vadim Kozlov, the executive director of the Kazan inter-regional center of expert analysis also suggests that the organization will really not surrender its position so simply, and that there is more than one judicial proceeding ahead.
 
"I think this is not the last (trial—ed. note), not the end. Because this organization has a powerful legal service. I think that international instances also will be involved including diplomatic channels on the part of the USA, where the headquarters of this organization is based. I think for our jurisprudence this is a precedent. It is quite possible that by analogy such decisions will be rendered for other organizations also that have indicators of the presence of extremism."
 
Confirmation of these words came on the day after the Supreme Court's decision. The European Service of Foreign Policy, that is responsible for the foreign policy of the European Union, declared that members of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization in Russia should enjoy the right to freedom of assembly without hindrance.
 
At the same time, the ban on the activity of the organization will lead to an increase in the number of its adherents, Alexander Mikhailov, a general-major of the FSB reserve, is sure.
 
"This is a real totalitarian sect, representing a danger for the physical and moral health of people. It is very aggressive in attracting devotees to itself. I even predict a formal increase in the numbers of this sect; a ban always has an attractive character" Mikhailov speculates.
 
Mikhailov recalls that liquidation of an organization has often been tried in Russia.
 
"Any prohibition, and especially in regard to totalitarian sects, creates conditions for the sect to go underground. What form will this take? I find it hard to say. Our legislation forbids, speaking conditionally, conducting religious rituals outside of houses of worship. We have already dealt with this in soviet times, when we pursued these sects with fearsome force about the expanse of the universe. But they still assembled in apartments.
 
The interlocutor is sure that the ban will inevitably evoke a counter reaction: "It will be hysterical and notable. The ban of an organization is not effective. People will not change their views." (tr. by PDS, posted 21 April 2017)

Russian original posted on Portal-Credo.Ru, 21 April 2017
                                                                                                                     

Japanese destroyers join US strike group amid tensions on Korean Peninsula
Published time: 21 Apr, 2017 14:52 Get short URL FILE PHOTO. U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships. © U.S. Navy / Reuters   Two Japanese Navy destroyers have joined the carrier strike group ‘USS Carl Vinson’ heading towards the Korean Peninsula for a massive show of force as North Korea prepares to mark the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its military. The Japanese warships, destroyers ‘Ashigara’ and ‘Samidare’, left the navy’s Sasebo base early on Friday for a rendezvous with the ‘USS Carl Vinson’ group off North Korean shores, NHK reports.
Defense Ministry officials said the details of the joint US-Japan naval exercise are yet to be determined. The drill comes as an apparent show of force aimed at deterring North Korea, which will mark the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its military next week.
Read more
Trump’s ‘armada’ turns toward North Korea as White House defends misleading remarks
Though little is known about the naval exercise, the event was announced by the Japanese Navy earlier last week.
“Japan wants to dispatch several destroyers as the ‘Carl Vinson’ enters the East China Sea,” said one of the Japanese military sources, as cited by Reuters.
The source added that the drills would involve helicopter landings on both American and Japanese ships as well as communications training.
The American strike group includes Nimitz-class aircraft carrier ‘USS Carl Vinson’ with her air wing, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers ‘USS Wayne E. Meyer’ and ‘USS Michael Murphy’, as well as Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser ‘USS Lake Champlain’.
The strike group will operate in the region under the operational control of the 3rd Fleet as part of the 3rd Fleet Forward initiative, according to the US Navy. 
Its arrival to the Western Pacific was marked by a string of conflicting statements from the White House and the Pentagon. Last week, US President Donald Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo that “we are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines, very powerful – far more powerful than the aircraft carrier.”
The news, however, was downplayed by US military officials after it emerged that the strike group was heading to Australia instead of the Korean Peninsula. Some American media reported that the USS Carl Vinson and her escort ships were operating near Indonesia.
Read more N. Korea could have sarin-tipped missiles, Japanese PM says ahead of Pyongyang's ‘big event’ Earlier this week, a senior White House official accused the military of misleading the president and his team about the deployment of the ‘Carl Vinson’, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Defense Secretary James Mattis provided a rather vague statement, saying: “The Vinson, as I’ve said on the record, was operating up and down the western Pacific … And that is, we’re shifting her, instead of continuing one direction as she pulled out of Singapore she’s going to continue part of our cruise down in that region, but she was on her way up to Korea.”
The latest flare-up in tension between the US and North Korea has been triggered by reports that the state was about to conduct its sixth nuclear test or fire a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. Washington threatened to solve the ‘North Korean problem’ unilaterally, arguing that Pyongyang poses a threat to US interests in the region.
North Korea said it was ready to defend itself with all means available, including weapons of mass destruction. In a series of extraordinary statements, China, North Korea’s main trading partner and ally, warned that the region was on the brink of an all-out war.
Russia, which shares a land border with the hermit state, urged all parties to refrain from the use of military force.

RUSSIA Jehovah's Witnesses Had Foes Before Putin
2 APRIL 21, 2017 11:52 AM EDT By Leonid Bershidsky When the Russian Supreme Court banned Jehovah's Witnesses and ordered the confiscation of the denomination's property on Thursday, it wasn't the first time. The faithful were outlaws in the Soviet Union, too, until that country's final year. The stubborn group will fight on -- but the court has delivered another chilling reminder that President Vladimir Putin's Russia is even less free than the USSR was.
Jehovah's Witnesses are a U.S.-based global religious organization, and they often are targeted by authoritarian and belligerent governments because members don't believe in government authority. They don't vote, serve in the military, salute flags or hail leaders. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, the Witnesses wouldn't use the Nazi salute because, according to their beliefs, it amounted to idolatry. Hitler responded by sending more than 10,000 "Bible Students," as they called themselves then, to prisons and concentration camps, where their pacifism particularly inspired torturers.
In the Soviet Union directly after World War II, Witnesses were mostly concentrated in western Ukraine and Transcarpathia, and they had the bad luck to trade Nazi persecution for the equally harsh Stalinist kind. In two secret operations in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Witnesses were removed to Siberian labor camps. There were only about 10,000 of them then. But adherents of the denomination didn't stop practicing and preaching in exile and in the camps, and when, after Stalin's death, the state stopped systematically imprisoning them and switched to a harassment tactic, the flock started growing.
By January 1991, when President Mikhail Gorbachev's government officially permitted the organization, there were about 45,000 followers in the Soviet Union. They formed one of the most stubborn and resourceful resistance groups that ever existed in the Communist country. Emily Baran wrote in a 2014 book about Soviet Jehovah's Witnesses:
The 1990s were a time of unprecedented freedom for the Witnesses in Russia. They converted about 100,000 new members, acquired influence and, in some cities, expensive real estate. But in the early 2000s, after Putin came to power, harassment began anew, with courts regularly banning the Witnesses' regional communities and literature. That became easier with the passage of "anti-extremist laws" that ban the preaching of one religion's advantage over others. Witness literature readily fit the description: They don't just consider themselves the one true faith, but also proudly preach it.  
The Witnesses fought the verdicts, sometimes reaching the European Court for Human Rights and winning there. But during Putin's latest presidential term, Russian courts have been encouraged to disregard the ECHR's decisions. Even though the European court is likely to overturn Thursday's Supreme Court ruling once the Witnesses' attempts to appeal reach Strasbourg, the Russian government is likely to stay firm on the ban, initiated by the justice ministry. The next step may be the prosecution of individual Witnesses for continuing to worship and proselytize. 
Jehovah's witnesses are in many ways extreme, even though their non-violent creed is hardly "extremist." That makes them a test case for religious freedom: The less liberal and tolerant a country is, the harsher it treats this particular denomination. 
Western democracies have struggled to accept Jehovah's Witnesses. At different times, they have faced bans in France, Spain and Canada because of their attitudes to military service and flags. But in recent years, following some protracted legal battles, European countries have come to recognize their right to their beliefs. The European Union has denounced the Russian ban.
At the other end of the spectrum, African dictatorial regimes have killed, tortured and driven out Witnesses. A number of Muslim nations have banned them, and so has China. Russia is now positioning itself at the restrictive end of the spectrum, and that augurs ill for other Protestant denominations and smaller religious groups. Like Western non-governmental organizations and members of the news media, which have been driven from Russia in the last four years, these groups represent a fifth column. Perhaps they don't defy the state as openly as Jehovah's Witnesses, but to Putin and his circle they still somehow appear disloyal because of their reluctance to join the big religions that maintain a relationship with the state and are controllable.
Russia has no more patience with openness and tolerance. Putin's regime doesn't care whether it passes any tests on that score. In a way, it's as defiant as the Witnesses, and so far, it's just as resilient. But the Jehovah's Witnesses have been resilient for longer.
 
My photo not the article. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hitler-Catholic-Alliance-Babylon-the-Great-Watchtower-Jehovahs-Witnesses-IBSA-/272637842902?hash=item3f7a7b55d6:g:rzoAAOxyHltSTvLv
seems a bit too cozy for me

SOON THEY ALL WILL BE

@bruceq So is the Russian Orthodox Church next? ?????

"Varieties of Religious Repression"  and "Dissent on the Margins" for current persecution and "Faith of the Russian Evangelicals" for persecution during Soviet era. 
http://www.ebay.com/cln/lisa.joeywit/RUSSIA-BANS-JEHOVAHS-WITNESSES/398546418018

"the French state does more than maintain the secular dress code: it actively investigates and prosecutes groups it considers a threat to the state as cults. That includes Jehovah’s Witnesses" https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-07-12/french-want-make-society-safe-religion-banning-so-called-cults
INTERESTING IS IT NOT HOW MANY POPULIST ARE GAINING CONTROL OF GOVERNMENTS
Donald J. Trump    ✔@realDonaldTrump Another terrorist attack in Paris. The people of France will not take much more of this. Will have a big effect on presidential election!
6:32 AM - 21 Apr 2017 IF THIS PERSON Le Pen BECOMES PRESIDENT OF FRANCE WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN THERE TO RELIGIONS? ALSO SEE : How France's election could have a big impact on the US http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/04/21/how-frances-election-could-have-big-impact-on-us.html

only "one" religion has been banned in Russia.out of over 2,000 religions there according to the U.N. and other sources JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES.
 "The Supreme Court’s decision was the largest ban on the activities of a religious movement since the disintegration of the Soviet Union" TASS NEWS April 21, 2017 http://tass.com/politics/942578
 
Now why would it bother critics and opposers and apostates that we are the ONLY ONE???

SOON THEY ALL WILL BE

only "one" religion has been banned in Russia.out of over 2,000 religions there according to the U.N. and other sources JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES.
 "The Supreme Court’s decision was the largest ban on the activities of a religious movement since the disintegration of the Soviet Union" TASS NEWS April 21, 2017 http://tass.com/politics/942578
 
Now why would it bother critics and opposers and apostates that we are the ONLY ONE???

Expert warns Russia’s ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses can spark backlash in EU
Russian Politics & Diplomacy April 21, 14:56UTC+3
The Supreme Court’s decision was the largest ban on the activities of a religious movement since the disintegration of the Soviet Union Share 30               Russia's Supreme Court judge Yuri Ivanenko reads the decision to brand the Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization in Russia
© AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Classifying Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization in Russia could trigger a great amout of backlash from EU members and the United States where its activities are allowed, Russian religious studies scholar and leading research fellow of the Center for Religion and Society Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe, Roman Lunkin, said in an interview with TASS.
Situation forecast
"After the Supreme Court ruling, Russia will appear in all reports on religious freedom as a country violating this freedom. Besides, this decision will be condemned by all Western countries. The Jehovah’s Witnesses ruling can become a symbol of violating the right to religious freedom," he noted.
 
READ ALSO
Berlin troubled over Jehovah’s Witnesses' ban in Russia EU rushes to defend Jehovah’s Witnesses banned by Russia’s Supreme Court Russia’s Supreme Court bans Jehovah’s Witnesses as extremist organization Jehovah’s Witnesses former members tell court they were subjected to ‘total control’ Jehovah’s Witnesses broke law on extremism — Justice Ministry Russia designates myriad of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ materials as extremist  
Commenting on the religious organization’s plans to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the expert indicated that the court’s decision is unlikely to affect its fate. "I am sure that, if Jehovah’s Witnesses files a petition with the European court, it will make a decision in favor of the believers," he contended.
Lunkin recalled that Russia pays fines on the court’s ruling, but "there is no mechanism to review the cases in which the ECHR overturned the original verdicts. "That’s why, in my opinion, the ECHR decision and outrage by international institutions are unlikely to affect the organization’s fate in Russia," he emphasized.
  When asked about the organization’s future activities, Lunkin noted that changing its name is impossible.
"Proceeding from hard-line ideology, no rebranding is possible. There will be no change of image or (the organization’s) name. After a ban practically all believers, and there are more than 100,000 of them, will turn themselves into members of illegal religious groups," he noted, adding that the Supreme Court’s decision was the largest ban on the activities of a religious movement since the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Court ruling
On Thursday, 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 ordered the immediate shutdown of all 395 local chapters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and transferred the organization’s assets into state custody.
 
READ ALSO Everything you need to know about Jehovah’s Witnesses  
Jehovah’s Witnesses said it would appeal the decision. The organization’s spokesman said if the appellate panel of Supreme Court judges upheld Thursday’s verdict, the case would be taken to the European Court of Human Rights.
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. In Russia, it had 21 local chapters but three of them were shut down for extremism.


More:
http://tass.com/politics/942578

Expert warns Russia’s ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses can spark backlash in EU
Russian Politics & Diplomacy April 21, 14:56UTC+3
The Supreme Court’s decision was the largest ban on the activities of a religious movement since the disintegration of the Soviet Union Share 30               Russia's Supreme Court judge Yuri Ivanenko reads the decision to brand the Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization in Russia
© AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. Classifying Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization in Russia could trigger a great amout of backlash from EU members and the United States where its activities are allowed, Russian religious studies scholar and leading research fellow of the Center for Religion and Society Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe, Roman Lunkin, said in an interview with TASS.
Situation forecast
"After the Supreme Court ruling, Russia will appear in all reports on religious freedom as a country violating this freedom. Besides, this decision will be condemned by all Western countries. The Jehovah’s Witnesses ruling can become a symbol of violating the right to religious freedom," he noted.
 
READ ALSO
Berlin troubled over Jehovah’s Witnesses' ban in Russia EU rushes to defend Jehovah’s Witnesses banned by Russia’s Supreme Court Russia’s Supreme Court bans Jehovah’s Witnesses as extremist organization Jehovah’s Witnesses former members tell court they were subjected to ‘total control’ Jehovah’s Witnesses broke law on extremism — Justice Ministry Russia designates myriad of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ materials as extremist  
Commenting on the religious organization’s plans to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the expert indicated that the court’s decision is unlikely to affect its fate. "I am sure that, if Jehovah’s Witnesses files a petition with the European court, it will make a decision in favor of the believers," he contended.
Lunkin recalled that Russia pays fines on the court’s ruling, but "there is no mechanism to review the cases in which the ECHR overturned the original verdicts. "That’s why, in my opinion, the ECHR decision and outrage by international institutions are unlikely to affect the organization’s fate in Russia," he emphasized.
  When asked about the organization’s future activities, Lunkin noted that changing its name is impossible.
"Proceeding from hard-line ideology, no rebranding is possible. There will be no change of image or (the organization’s) name. After a ban practically all believers, and there are more than 100,000 of them, will turn themselves into members of illegal religious groups," he noted, adding that the Supreme Court’s decision was the largest ban on the activities of a religious movement since the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Court ruling
On Thursday, 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 ordered the immediate shutdown of all 395 local chapters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and transferred the organization’s assets into state custody.
 
READ ALSO Everything you need to know about Jehovah’s Witnesses  
Jehovah’s Witnesses said it would appeal the decision. The organization’s spokesman said if the appellate panel of Supreme Court judges upheld Thursday’s verdict, the case would be taken to the European Court of Human Rights.
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. In Russia, it had 21 local chapters but three of them were shut down for extremism.


More:
http://tass.com/politics/942578

That is bizarre. Are the Russian Government really that stupid as to think that would work. They are fighting against the only true God Jehovah. Apparently even tho the students showed up hours before Jehovah filled the courtroom with his people somehow !!! I guess no one saw them go in to fill it. I think I have seen something like this before in the Bible.

Russia’s Phony Jehovah’s Witnesses   -  April  12, 2017  -  01:35  GMT+2
How state television framed a bunch of university students to make this Christian group seem extra scary.
THE GUILTY OF FALSE EVIDENCE.
In one of the registers of a kingdom hall, the security forces placed false evidence in the form of our publications that were banned. An oversight of these expert policemen, made appear among our publications, the book "What really teaches the Bible?". There is a field where you can put the name of the owner of the book, and there you see the inscription "IKTSMV", which means "Information and Consultation Center of San Mitrofan Voronezh" This center is part of the Russian Association of Centers of Studies of religions and sects (RATSIRS). The Orthodox Church is behind everything. The declared purpose of the center's activities is to persecute those who contradict orthodox morality and the mission aimed at neutralizing programs of proselytism and religious extremism. "
The judges have checked the assembly.
Very wicked!
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russian-students-framed-as-jehovahs-witnesses-in-field-trip-to-crowd-courtroom-57684

https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russian-students-framed-as-jehovahs-witnesses-in-field-trip-to-crowd-courtroom-57684 


https://blog.oup.com/2017/04/banning-jehovahs-witnesses-russia/


https://blog.oup.com/2017/04/banning-jehovahs-witnesses-russia/

Very nice , we just finished watching the Broadcast. The parts about how Jehovah is maneuvering events is interesting and shows that he is in control of His people and allowed them to both have the Memorial and Special Talk in peace before the verdict. Also a great Witness has been and will be taking place from here until the appeal. It was stated that many may become interested in the Truth after hearing about this "unjust" verdict and persecution of peaceful people. Jesus said true worshipers would be haled before courts "as a witness". It is true other religions are being restricted but only ONE has gone to the Supreme Court and was given a great Witness to the world and yet it appears this is only the beginning. . 

Jehovah's Witnesses administration recalls soviet times
LEADERS OF RUSSIAN JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES VIEW SUPREME COURT DECISION AS OPEN PERSECUTION FOR FAITH
Inasmuch as incidents of "extremist activity were not presented to the court
Portal-Credo.Ru, 21 April 2017
 
"We are disappointed with the decision of the court and we will appeal it without fail, here, in the appellate college of the Supreme Court. If this does not help, there remains only the European court," Yaroslav Sivulsky, a member of the Governing Body of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, shared the plans of the Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) in connection with the decision made on 20 April by the Russian Supreme Court for liquidation of their religious organizations in Russia, a Portal-Credo.Ru correspondent reports.
 
Everybody in attendance in the courtroom was able to be convinced that the position of the plaintiff—the Russian Ministry of Justice—was "absolutely unfounded," Yaroslav Sivulsky thinks. The participants in the trial were left with the impression that the justice ministry did not trouble itself to prepare for the trial, since it was earlier certain of its outcome.
 
The fact that in the court not a single incident of extremist activity by JW was presented is viewed in the Governing Body as proof that the trial in the Russian Supreme Court is "simply persecution for faith, persecution for religion."
 
"This is, in fact, a return to the repressions that existed in soviet times. Now our country is being plunged into new religious repressions," Yaroslav Sivulsky concluded. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 April 2017)

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)

European sympathy for Russian Jehovah's Witnesses
EU SUPPORTS JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BANNED IN RUSSIA
Lenta.ru, 21 April 2017
 
Brussels came out in support of the religious movement of Jehovah's Witnesses, whose activity was banned on the territory of Russia by decision of the Supreme Court. This is said in a statement published on the website of the European Service of Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for the foreign policy of the European Union (EU).
 
"Jehovah's Witnesses, like all other religious organizations, should have the possibility of peacefully enjoying the freedom of assembly, as it is guaranteed by the Russian constitution as well as by international obligations of the Russian federation and world standards of human rights," the European Service of Foreign Affairs notes.
 
On 20 April, the Supreme Court ruled the Jehovah's Witnesses to be an extremist organization and prohibited the activity of all 395 divisions operating on the territory of the country. A representative of the Jehovah's Witnesses declared their readiness to turn to the appellate instance, and if necessary to go to the European Court for Human Rights. The decision will take effect after 30 days.
 
On 17 March, the Ministry of Justice turned to the Supreme Court with a demand to prohibit Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia because of violations by them of anti-extremism legislation. Several days later the activity of the Administrative Center of the movement in Russia was suspended. The head organization was entered into the list of extremist organizations of the Ministry of Justice.
 
In response to this, the Jehovah's Witnesses asked the Supreme Court to recognize them as the victim of political repressions, although after hearing the arguments of the parties the court refused to accept the counter suit.
 
Jehovah's Witnesses is an international religious organization with headquarters in New York. In 2015, more than eight million of its followers were counted in the world, and  about 175 thousand of its adherents reside in Russia. Adherents of the movement are accused of neglect for life because of refusal of medical operations and blood transfusion. They also are accused of reluctance to serve in the army. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 April 2017)
 
 
 
GERMAN AUTHORITIES UPSET BY BAN OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES IN RUSSIA
RIA Novosti,  21 April 2017
 
The government of Germany expresses its concern about the decision of the Russian Supreme Court which prohibited the activity of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, an official representative of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Martin Shefer, stated at a briefing in Berlin on 21 April.
 
"The government of Germany expresses concern that yesterday Russian justice issued a sentence banning Jehovah's Witnesses," Shefer said.
 
He added that he urges Russia "to adhere to international obligations" for protecting "religious liberty."
 
On Thursday the Russian Supreme Court ruled the activity of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to be extremist and it banned its work. It also ordered the confiscation of the property of the organization. The Ministry of Justice earlier suspended the work of the center until the concluding resolution of the dispute in court. The Administrative Center is preparing an appeal. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 April 2017)
 
 
 
BRITAIN UPSET BY DECISION OF RUSSIAN SUPREME COURT ON JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
RIA Novosti, 21 April 2017
 
Great Britain is concerned by the decision of the Russian Supreme Court to find the activity of Jehovah's Witnesses to be extremist.
 
On 20 April the Russian Supreme Court ruled the activity of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to be extremist and it prohibited its work. Representatives of the Jehovah's Witnesses declared their intention to appeal this decision in the European Court for Human Rights. The Germany foreign ministry and the foreign policy service of the European Union came out in defense of the organization.
 
"I am disturbed by the decision of the Russian Supreme Court to find Jehovah's Witnesses to be 'extremist.' This ruling, in essence, criminalizes the peaceful religious profession of 175 thousand Russian citizens and it contradicts the right to religious liberty guaranteed by the Russian constitution," a statement by the minister for human rights, Joyce Anelay, says.
 
"Great Britain urges the Russian government to observe its international obligations in honoring this basic right," she emphasized.

Russian lawmaker suggests Jehovah's Witnesses' case may affect other religions
CHAIRMAN OF STATE DUMA COMMITTEE LINKS SUPREME COURT DECISION TO LIQUIDATE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS'ES WITH "PROTECTION OF BELIEVERS' RIGHTS"
Portal-Credo.Ru, 21 April 2017
 
The Russian State Duma will "examine" the decision of the Russian Supreme Court in the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The legal precedent will allow the development of new laws for the protection of believers' rights, the chairman of the State Duma Committee for Development of Civil Society and Affairs of Public and Religious Associations, Sergei Gavrilov, told Izvestia on 20 April.
 
"This is a kind of legal precedent, although we do not have case law, but it is important for us to examine details of the case so that in our time we can adopt a decision about the protection of believers' rights. We adopted a number of amendments in the anti-extremism legislation. If you recall, the Russian parliament adopted an amendment linked to the restriction of illegal evangelism. Therefore it is important for us the examine this case, because it is possible that in the near future we will have to use it in our legislation," Gavrilov said.
 
In the deputy's opinion, there are in Russia now many religious organizations whose activity is called into question. "All organizations that exist in our country, with the exception of traditional confessions, should be investigated in order to protect the interests of traditional morality, traditional Russian values, establishment of the family, care for neighbors, and love for the fatherland. In my view, very many organizations today do not comply with this criterion," Gavrilov declared.
 
On 20 April, the Russian Supreme Court ruled the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in the RF to be an extremist organization and banned the its activity itself and that of its "structural subdivisions" on the territory of the country. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 April 2017)

ANYTHING IS STILL POSSIBLE SINCE WE ARE NOT AT THAT POINT YET. WHEN GOG MAKES HIS ATTACK IT IS ACTUALLY AT THE END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION. AND ALOT OF THINGS CAN HAPPEN IN THE MEAN TIME SINCE THE BEGINNING HAS NOT EVEN STARTED YET.
BUT IT IS OF INTEREST THAT A "CHARACTER" IS CURRENTLY ACTING LIKE THE "KING OF THE NORTH" WOULD ACT ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES.. OF COURSE JEHOVAH WILL REVEAL IT IN DUE TIME AND THAT REVELATION WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE BY ME. LOL

ACTUALLY IF YOU READ CAREFULLY EZEKIEL AND DANIEL AND COMPARE THE "EXACT WORDING" OF THE WATCHTOWER ARTICLE AND THE BROADACAST TALK ON THE SUBJECT IT APPEARS A MORE PRECISE DEFINITION WOULD BE THIS: 
GOG aka KING OF THE NORTH = LEADER OF THE COALITION
LAND OF MAGOG = COALITION OF NATIONS that follow gog's lead
THUS GOG OF MAGOG IS A COALITION OF NATIONS WITH A PARTICULAR NATION ACTING AS ITS LEADER THE KING OF THE NORTH {although we cannot be dogmatic on that quite yet}. AS THE PROPHECY UNDERGOES FULFILLMENT A MORE PRECISE AND ACCURATE DETERMINATION CAN BE REVEALED THROUGH JEHOVAH'S ORGANIZATION.
IT IS OF CURRENT INTEREST THAT THE LEADER OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY IN RUSSIA HAS STATED THAT THE POLITICAL SITUATION IS RIPE IN RUSSIA [BECAUSE OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION AS NOTED WITH THE RECENT PROTESTS AND NOW BANNING OF A RELIGION] FOR THE EMERGENCE OF A "FURER" THAT IS A HORRIBLE DICTATORIAL TYRANT [LIKE HITLER WAS] THAT COULD BE THE FUTURE LEADER OF RUSSIA.
MY PERSONAL THOUGHT HOWEVER IS IN ORDER FOR A CRY OF "PEACE AND SECURITY" THERE WOULD HAVE TO BE SOME "OUTSTANDING" DEVELOPMENT TO MAKE PEOPLE WANT IT. SUCH AS A TERRORIST OR A NATION-STATE USING SOME WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION [PERHAPS EVEN NUCLEAR] ON CIVILIANS THAT WOULD OUTRAGE THE ENTIRE WORLD COMMUNITY TO GO TO AND STRENGTHEN THE UNITED NATIONS TO ACT ON THE THREAT.  SINCE THAT THREAT IS "BABYLON THE GREAT" THEN IT WOULD HAVE A RELIGIOUS FACTOR.  UNLESS THE U.N. IS STRENGTHEN FIRST AND THEN ACTS TO ELIMINATE ANOTHER THREAT = BABYLON THE GREAT BECAUSE OF RELIGIOUS "EXTREMISM".
INTERESTINGLY AS A HISTORIAN I HAVE NOTED THAT IN THE FIRST CENTURY JOSEPHUS MADE NOTE THAT THE ATTACK ON JERUSALEM WAS STARTED BECAUSE OF THE RELIGIOUS "ZEALOTS" WHO FLED THERE THINKING IT WAS A PLACE OF SANCTUARY TO THEM. THE ROMANS NEVER ACTUALLY WANTED TO DESTROY THE TEMPLE THEY WERE AFTER THE RELIGIOUS "EXTREMIST" [AKA TERRORIST] WHO HAD USED THE TEMPLE [RELIGION] AS A PROTECTION. TERRORIST TODAY SUCH AS "ISIS" AND OTHERS ARE ALSO USING "RELIGION" AS A BASES FOR THERE ACTIONS USING IT AS A  PROTECTIVE ELEMENT. BUT THAT PROTECTION IS MISPLACED AS THE WORLD  WILL SOON DISCOVER. REV. 18

RUSSIA Jehovah's Witnesses Had Foes Before Putin
2 APRIL 21, 2017 11:52 AM EDT By Leonid Bershidsky When the Russian Supreme Court banned Jehovah's Witnesses and ordered the confiscation of the denomination's property on Thursday, it wasn't the first time. The faithful were outlaws in the Soviet Union, too, until that country's final year. The stubborn group will fight on -- but the court has delivered another chilling reminder that President Vladimir Putin's Russia is even less free than the USSR was.
Jehovah's Witnesses are a U.S.-based global religious organization, and they often are targeted by authoritarian and belligerent governments because members don't believe in government authority. They don't vote, serve in the military, salute flags or hail leaders. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, the Witnesses wouldn't use the Nazi salute because, according to their beliefs, it amounted to idolatry. Hitler responded by sending more than 10,000 "Bible Students," as they called themselves then, to prisons and concentration camps, where their pacifism particularly inspired torturers.
In the Soviet Union directly after World War II, Witnesses were mostly concentrated in western Ukraine and Transcarpathia, and they had the bad luck to trade Nazi persecution for the equally harsh Stalinist kind. In two secret operations in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Witnesses were removed to Siberian labor camps. There were only about 10,000 of them then. But adherents of the denomination didn't stop practicing and preaching in exile and in the camps, and when, after Stalin's death, the state stopped systematically imprisoning them and switched to a harassment tactic, the flock started growing.
By January 1991, when President Mikhail Gorbachev's government officially permitted the organization, there were about 45,000 followers in the Soviet Union. They formed one of the most stubborn and resourceful resistance groups that ever existed in the Communist country. Emily Baran wrote in a 2014 book about Soviet Jehovah's Witnesses:
The 1990s were a time of unprecedented freedom for the Witnesses in Russia. They converted about 100,000 new members, acquired influence and, in some cities, expensive real estate. But in the early 2000s, after Putin came to power, harassment began anew, with courts regularly banning the Witnesses' regional communities and literature. That became easier with the passage of "anti-extremist laws" that ban the preaching of one religion's advantage over others. Witness literature readily fit the description: They don't just consider themselves the one true faith, but also proudly preach it.  
The Witnesses fought the verdicts, sometimes reaching the European Court for Human Rights and winning there. But during Putin's latest presidential term, Russian courts have been encouraged to disregard the ECHR's decisions. Even though the European court is likely to overturn Thursday's Supreme Court ruling once the Witnesses' attempts to appeal reach Strasbourg, the Russian government is likely to stay firm on the ban, initiated by the justice ministry. The next step may be the prosecution of individual Witnesses for continuing to worship and proselytize. 
Jehovah's witnesses are in many ways extreme, even though their non-violent creed is hardly "extremist." That makes them a test case for religious freedom: The less liberal and tolerant a country is, the harsher it treats this particular denomination. 
Western democracies have struggled to accept Jehovah's Witnesses. At different times, they have faced bans in France, Spain and Canada because of their attitudes to military service and flags. But in recent years, following some protracted legal battles, European countries have come to recognize their right to their beliefs. The European Union has denounced the Russian ban.
At the other end of the spectrum, African dictatorial regimes have killed, tortured and driven out Witnesses. A number of Muslim nations have banned them, and so has China. Russia is now positioning itself at the restrictive end of the spectrum, and that augurs ill for other Protestant denominations and smaller religious groups. Like Western non-governmental organizations and members of the news media, which have been driven from Russia in the last four years, these groups represent a fifth column. Perhaps they don't defy the state as openly as Jehovah's Witnesses, but to Putin and his circle they still somehow appear disloyal because of their reluctance to join the big religions that maintain a relationship with the state and are controllable.
Russia has no more patience with openness and tolerance. Putin's regime doesn't care whether it passes any tests on that score. In a way, it's as defiant as the Witnesses, and so far, it's just as resilient. But the Jehovah's Witnesses have been resilient for longer.
 
My photo not the article. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hitler-Catholic-Alliance-Babylon-the-Great-Watchtower-Jehovahs-Witnesses-IBSA-/272637842902?hash=item3f7a7b55d6:g:rzoAAOxyHltSTvLv
seems a bit too cozy for me

I thought @bruceq explained it quite well. Child abuse is nothing new. Not only that, Jehovah's Witnesses have been made aware of the problem since the early 80's. I remember the Awake article very well. There is enough information on the website about it:
https://www.jw.org/en/search/?q=child+abuse
Also, I believe, most recently there will be a special handbook of some sort made available to every publisher.
But I suppose what you really would like to see is a big announcement made that; "there are some among Jehovah's Witnesses, or some who are associated with Jehovah's witnesses, who are pedophiles" instead of advice on how to protect children.

These are not transcripts though....they are summaries. Something tells me the court will never make the transcripts available to the public. This is not Australia, this is Russia. @James Thomas Rook Jr.
I could be wrong of course...