'Religious Freedom in Russia is Dead': Jehovah's Witnesses Ban As Extremists Upheld in Russian Supreme Court of Appeals

[The Librarian]

It is now possible JW's will appeal again to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, however, Vladimir Putin has already said Russia need not abide by external rulings of non-Russian courts.

Play-by-play details of the courtroom scene earlier today here:

 

[David Normand]

How sad. It took the judges 20 minutes to decide the fate of 175,000 Russian citizens and freedom of worship. A picture of things to come? Only Jehovah knows for sure. Putin has already signed into law that the Russian supreme court does not have to consider the ECHR if in their opinion, it is not in Russia's best interest. We could go through the motions, but nothing would probably change. 

[Jack Ryan]

Russia Disfellowships All Jehovah's Witnesses Worldwide.

JW's are getting a taste of their own medicine.

==========================

If WatchTower was in charge of governing countries.

How much Freedom of Religion would there be?......ZERO...

[Evacuated]

2 hours ago, Jay Witness said:

JW's are getting a taste of their own medicine.

Hopefully, this callous observation reflects only what the apostle Paul stated at 1Cor.2:14:

"A person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the teachings of God's Spirit. He thinks they're nonsense. He can't understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them."

[TrueTomHarley]

8 hours ago, Jay Witness said:

If WatchTower was in charge of governing countries.

How much Freedom of Religion would there be?......ZERO...

What if Jehovah was?

[Queen Esther]

Russia's justice ministry argues that Jehovah's Witnesses pamphlets incite hatred...

Russia Jehovah's Witnesses banned after they lose appeal

    17 July 2017
    From the section Europe

Russia's Supreme Court has ordered the disbanding of the Jehovah's Witnesses on Russian territory.

The ban came into effect after the court rejected an appeal by the religious group against a ruling in April which declared it to be extremist.

The justice ministry had argued that the group distributed pamphlets which incited hatred against other groups.

The group described the ruling as the end of religious freedom in Russia.

The denomination says it has 175,000 members in Russia - a country where it was persecuted during the Stalin era.

An estimated eight million people worldwide are part of the Christian-based movement, best known for going door-to-door looking for new converts.

    Jehovah's Witnesses at a glance
    Church lends weight to Putin patriotism

The ruling means that the group's headquarters near St Petersburg and 395 local chapters will close.

It will be required to hand over all its properties, known as Kingdom Halls, to the Russian government.

The group's Russia spokesman, Yaroslav Sivulsky, said that "religious freedom in Russia is over".

"There were no real facts of any extremism on part of Jehovah's Witnesses. It's all about bad literature and intolerance. Now anyone who studies the Bible can be jailed," he said, quoted by Newsweek magazine.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40635267