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    Primary school teacher banned from classroom after assaulting Jehovah's Witness

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    Samantha Beresford, 51, was convicted at Swansea Magistrates' Court of assault by beating

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    A primary school teacher who assaulted a Jehovah's Witness outside a Kingdom Hall while drunk has been suspended from teaching.

    Samantha Beresford, 51, was convicted at Swansea Magistrates' Court of assault by beating following an incident outside the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Swansea on July 19, 2016, where she grabbed a worshipper by the neck. 
    The Townhill Community School teacher had been celebrating the end of term with colleagues and had been drinking, later describing to officers how she was "eight out of ten" on a drunk scale. 
    Mrs Beresford began the confrontation after trying to enter the hall to speak to her sister-in-law, who was someone she had "issues" with regarding her alleged religious views on homosexuality.
    A Education Workforce Council (EWC) Fitness to Practice hearing held in Cardiff on Thursday heard details of the incident in Mrs Beresford's absence. 
    Case presenter Cadi Dewi said: "Samantha Beresford attempted to enter a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses whilst intoxicated following celebratory drinks at the end of the school term.
    "She wanted to confront a relative but that didn't take place.
    "There was an altercation with a member of the congregation outside the hall when she refused to leave the premises."
    The hearing heard a written statement from Townhill Community School's acting headteacher Karen David, who was the investigating officer looking into Mrs Bereford's case.
    Describing the events from Mrs Beresford's point of view, she said: "On her way home, she decided to address historical issues with a relative at their place of worship and she presumed her relative would be there.
    "She was swearing about her relative and wanted to speak to them.
    "A man came out of the hall and asked her to leave but she tried to get past him.
    "He grabbed her wrist and pushed him away and her nail or ring caught his neck and caused a slight scratch.
    "She was arrested and charged by the police the next day."
    A statement was also read out from the victim of the assault, church member Gavin Young.
    He said: "She was shouting when she walked up the path towards me and she was making references to her relative and making references to her religious views on homosexuality.
    "She wanted to walk past me through the open door so I grabbed her wrists and she grabbed me by the neck and held on to my throat for five seconds which resulted in a bleed."
    Other witnesses said Mrs Beresford was shouting profanities and obscenities, making references to oral sex and calling Mr Young a "f****** b******".
    The hearing heard Mrs Beresford was initially dragged away but she returned five to ten minutes later and began shouting behind a locked gate, continuing to shout profanities and making references to "sexual activity".
    After the police were called Mrs Beresford left the scene. She was arrested by police the next day.
    One of the witnesses said: "The behaviour and language was totally unacceptable but luckily there were no children outside the hall to hear the foul and abusive language."
    Mrs Beresford, of Hendrefoilan Road, Sketty, was found guilty of assault by beating and on September 21, 2016, and was fined £600 and ordered to pay £50 in compensation.
    David Browne, who represented Mrs Beresford at the NMC hearing, said his client had been employed at Townhill Community School since 1991 and was well thought of.
    Reading a statement from his client, Mr Browne said: "Against my better judgement I walked towards the hall, shouting expletives believing my relative to be inside. I had more to drink than usual and was tired after a busy term.
    "I deeply regret my actions which led to my arrest and caused great distress to my family.
    "The incident continues to have a devastating effect.
    "I let myself, my family, my friends, and school down badly and I am ashamed and embarrased. It's something I will regret until the day I die."
    In their decision, Fitness to Practice panel chairman Jacqueline Turnbull said Mrs Beresford had not demonstrated a "significant level of insight" into her behaviour and had decided to impose a suspension order for six months.
    "Her name will be removed from the teacher's register for that period before she is allowed to reapply."
     

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    RUSSIA: OPEN LETTER FROM 10 OF THE WIVES OF 16 IMPRISONED JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TO PRESIDENT PUTIN’S ADVISER MIKHAIL FEDOTOV

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    HRWF (08.06.2018) – On 7 June, ten of the wives of the 16 imprisoned JWs in Russia sent an open letter (Russian version: https://jw-russia.org/news/18060718-345.html) plea to Mikhail Fedotov—advisor to President Putin and chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights.
    Human Rights Without Frontiers has a pdf of the full list of names of JWs with open criminal cases against them, as a result of the home arrests that began in April. In addition to the prisoners, dozens of believers in 11 regions are under house arrest and/or are not permitted to leave the region.
    Text of the Open Letter in English
    To the Russian Federation Presidential Council
    For the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights
    Honorable Mr. Fedotov! Honorable members of the Human Rights Council!
    This open letter to you is a cry of desperation. People who are very dear to us, our husbands, those who feed us, the fathers of our children, peaceable, honest people, who are always ready to help others, are being thrown behind bars for being suspected of reading Bible commandments and praying together with us and our children to the God whose name, as recorded in the Bible, is Jehovah.
    As of this day in Russia already 17 individuals are being held in pre-trial detention. One of our fellow believers has been in custody for over a year. Dozens more believers, in 11 regions of Russia, are under house arrest or are forbidden to leave their cities of residence. With each passing day, their number is increasing. Taking into account that in Russia there are 175,000 professing the religion of JehovahÂ’s Witnesses, we wonder how many more dozens, hundreds or thousands of victims of conscience will it take before the unjust criminal persecution of people for their faith in God is brought to an end.
    Under the guise of fighting extremism, many of us, and even our children, have been threatened with weapons by agents of the special forces and ordered to lie face down. Our homes have been raided and searched, our telephones and computers have been seized, so we canÂ’t work or live a normal life. Our family photographs, our passports and other personal documents, and Bibles have been confiscated. They are trying to force us to live in fear and shake every time thereÂ’s a knock at the door or the sound of a siren on the street, as we await arrest merely for our faith. Some believers have already been dismissed from their places of work after many years of faultless work just because the organization of JehovahÂ’s Witnesses is banned in Russia. We cannot find the answers to the questions of why we are being subjected to such harassment in our country, and which religion will be the next to fall victim after us?
    The law-enforcement agencies that are persecuting our husbands for their faith in God explain that it is because of the April 20, 2017, decision of the Russian Federation Supreme Court to liquidate all legal entities of JehovahÂ’s Witnesses in Russia.
    However, both the Russian Federation Ministry of Justice, during the hearing at the Supreme Court, and the Russian Federation Government, after the decision was handed down, officially stated that the courtÂ’s decision would not result in any violations of the rights of citizens to freedom of worship.
    The aforementioned decision of the Supreme Court did not ban the religion of JehovahÂ’s Witnesses in Russia. It only involved legal entities. So why are the law-enforcement agents acting in contravention of the will of the government of our country? Who in our country benefits from the mass repression of religious believers? Why are our relatives being accused of a serious crime with the prospect of imprisonment from 6 to 10 years for fictitious extremist activity (Article 282.2 of the RF Criminal Code)? Why are the law-enforcement agents mistakenly interpreting peaceful expression of faith on God for participation in an extremist organization?
    Honorable members of the Council, please help us to receive answers to these questions.
    In the face of such monstrous circumstances, we are afraid for our children’s future. The ground has been laid for children to be torn away from parents, whose faith in God has been declared “wrong.” News that information on children whose parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses is being gathered in educational and medical facilities is very worrying. It is not surprising that virtually every week whole families of our fellow believers are abandoning everything and fleeing abroad to seek political asylum for the protection of their children.
    In return for freedom and a quiet life, we are being invited to disown our faith. This is not just a figure of speech—investigators have directly invited us to sign documents in order to avoid punishment for “extremism.” If not, in their words, no attorney will be able to save us. But we cannot stop believing in God. It is a right that every individual has from birth. The Russian Federation is a multi-confessional state, and we, as citizens of Russia, have the right to expect that our rights will be respected by the state. We are not asking for any special privileges. We are asking for just one thing—please, defend our rights.
    Honorable members of the Council! A campaign of terror has been unleashed against an entire religion, one of the largest Christian religions in Russia. Fundamental human rights are being trampled on: the right to freedom of worship and personal inviolability, the right to personal dignity, the right to privacy, the right to the inviolability of the home, to freedom of conscience, freedom of thought, freedom of worship, the right to private property.
    If the Russian government does not quickly put an end to this growing campaign of terror, the administration will be faced with a nation-wide human rights catastrophe. We are certain that you have the power to take action now! We ask that you please pass this information on to the President of the Russian Federation, and use all possible legal means to restore the rights of religious believers.
    With respect, the wives of men who are being held in custody:
    Alyona Vilitkevich (Republic of Bashkortostan)
    Anna Zyablova (Magadan Region)
    Yulia Klimova (Tomsk Region)
    Galina Kochneva (Orenburg Region)
    Irina Christensen (Oryol Region)
    Svetlana Markina (Murmansk Region)
    Tatyana Petrova (Magadan Region)
    Anastasia Puyda (Khabarovsk Territory)
    Natalia Suvorova (Orenburg Region)
    Trofimova Ulyana (Murmansk Region)
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    1971 C.E.

    in Topics

    Posted

    “You will be witnesses of me . . . to the most distant part of the earth.”—Acts 1:8.
    "Divine Name" District Assemblies held in the United States, Canada, British Isles, Bahamas, and Nigeria. [1,384,782 publishers with 206 countries reporting in 1970, 10.2% increase over the 1969 service year, 26,524 congregations.] see w71 vol., pgs. 26-29.
    yb71-E Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses
    w-E * Watchtower
    g-E * Awake
    sg * Theocratic Ministry School Guidebook
    ad * Aid to Bible Understanding
    bi8-71 * New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (Large print edition)
    kj * “The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah” - How?
    nc * When All Nations Collide, Head On, With God
    te * Listening to the Great Teacher
    Convention Organization

     

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