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The Librarian

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    Trump consoles Jehovah’s Witnesses on Russia ban as he worships with them

    in Topics

    Posted

    Fake Internet posts said President Donald Trump offered to give refuge to Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses after that country banned followers of the religion, but there is no record he made any such comments.

    "Trump warns Russia over Jehovah’s Witnesses ban and urges members to seek asylum in the U.S.," reads the headline on an undated story on States-TV.com. The post first appeared on or around April 24, 2017, on States-TV.com, HoustonChronicle-TV.com and Fox-News24.com.

    Facebook users flagged it as possibly being fabricated, as part of the social media site’s efforts to clear fake news from users’ news feeds.

    The post is keyed to a real event: Russia’s Supreme Court banned the religious organization on April 20, labeling the group as a danger for "extremist activities." The assets of the St. Petersburg headquarters and almost 400 chapters were designated state property. Its literature and website have also been banned.

    From there, the story devolved into fairytale, claiming Trump warned that the move "is contrary to the constitution of the land of the Russian Federation."

    "I request you to reverse the decision immediately before I use your own constitution against you," Trump is quoted. He also is credited as saying Jehovah’s Witness could find freedom in this country.

    "As this is an infringement of your fundamental human right, I therefore urge you to seek asylum in the United States until your rights are fully reinstated," he said, according to the post.

    The problem is, there is no record Trump said any of these things. Aside from a few examples of this same post being on multiple websites, we couldn’t find any official record of him personally addressing the subject at all.

    We reached out to a White House spokesman to confirm this but didn’t receive a response.

    State Department spokesman Mark Toner did release a statement on April 20 saying that the United States was "extremely concerned by the Russian government's actions targeting and repressing members of religious minorities, including Jehovah's Witnesses, under the pretense of combating extremism."

    Toner also noted that religious freedom was critical to society.

    "All religious minorities should be able to enjoy freedom of religion and assembly without interference, as guaranteed by the Russian Federation's constitution," he said.

    But there’s no mention of Trump making any statement, and we couldn’t find one elsewhere. Reposts have circulated of the country’s 175,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses being harassed by Russian police since the ruling.

    http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/apr/28/blog-posting/reports-trump-offered-asylum-russian-jehovahs-witn/

    OSCE concerned by the decision to deny Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia

    in Topics

    Posted

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    The head of the Office for democratic institutions and human rights (ODIHR) Michael link expressed concern about the recognition in Russia the organization «Jehovah’s Witnesses» extremist, reads the statement of the ODIHR.

    «I’m worried about unjustified criminalization of peaceful activities of the members of the communities of «Jehovah’s Witnesses» in Russia, the elimination of this community in the country», — quotes the Link to his press service.

    «The Supreme court’s decision poses a threat to the values and principles upon which a democratic, free, open, pluralistic and tolerant society,» he said.

    In turn, the representative of the OSCE Chairman on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination Ingeborg Gabriel stated that «the prohibition, the persecution of innocent people for a simple service, clearly violates the fundamental right to freedom of religion, and with it international standards of human rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, so it must as soon as possible to reconsider».

    Also ODIHR has expressed concern that the police stopped a religious service of «Jehovah’s Witnesses».

    «I urge the Russian authorities to provide observance of the right to freedom of religion or belief, opinion and expression, peaceful Assembly and associations of persons belonging to the community «Jehovah’s Witnesses». Their rights must be respected in accordance with OSCE commitments and international law in the field of human rights,» said Linc.

    The Russian armed forces, 20 APR recognized extremist activity «administrative center of Jehovah’s witnesses in Russia» and forbade its performance. The representatives of «Jehovah’s Witnesses» have declared intention to appeal this decision to the European court of human rights. In defense of the organization by the German foreign Ministry and the foreign service of the EU.

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