An appellate court in Moscow on Wednesday upheld a ban on Jehovah's Witnesses in the city, a ruling the group's leaders said reflected mounting pressure on some faiths in Russia.
The decision culminated six years of legal proceedings that began when prosecutors sought to halt the group's activities on the ground saying that they posed a threat to Russian society.
Under Russia's complex laws governing religious minorities, the Jehovah's Witnesses are registered on the national level and in nearly 400 other cities in Russia, though not in Moscow itself. The ban affects only the group's activities here, but its leaders expressed fear that the ruling could presage similar efforts in other cities, where adherents have faced harassment.
"Once you get a decision like this, it's open season," John Burns, the group's Canadian lawyer, said.
Exactly how the ban will be enforced is not clear, though the prosecutor, Tatyana Kondryatyeva, told the court's three judges that the group would be prohibited from renting buildings for religious services and from distributing religious literature, which she said violated the rights of Russian citizens.
After a four-hour hearing in which the two sides presented their arguments, the judges returned with a ruling after only five minutes, upholding a lower court's decision in March to ban the Moscow chapter.
The decision came after several twists that dragged out the case. In 2001 a court ruled in favor of the Jehovah's Witnesses, but the prosecutors reinstated the case after an appeal that was supported, the group's lawyers said, by leaders of the dominant Russian Orthodox Church.
The second trial lasted nearly three years and included, among others, a lengthy physiological and linguistic study that the Jehovah's Witnesses said had been intended to question their beliefs, not their activities.
The group can appeal the decision in the Russian courts, but Burns said it would turn to the European Court of Human Rights, where it has already filed a legal challenge to the city's ban.
The case has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations and from officials and lawmakers in the US. The State Department's report on religious freedom, released last December, cited numerous examples of official or unofficial harassment of the Jehovah's Witnesses and other faiths that do not have the status of official religions in Russia, as do Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.
In Washington last month, Steven Pifer, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs, cited the case as an example of the Russian authorities' "seeking greater control in the area of religious affairs." He also noted that "the Federal Security Service, working with local law enforcement officials, has targeted minority faiths as `foreign' security threats."
Vasily Kolin, a Jehovah's Witness whose family was exiled from Ukraine to Siberia in 1951 because of their faith, said he feared the group's 11,000 believers in Moscow, and perhaps all 133,000 across the country, could again be forced to practise their faith underground.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
RSS