The Russian Supreme Court upheld on Thursday a decision by the nation’s Ministry of Justice to liquidate the center for the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and to close 395 Local Religious Organizations belonging to the group.
According to a press statement by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the high court’s ruling will go into effect immediately. NPR reports the religious group’s property will now belong to the Russian government.
There are roughly 170,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia.
Russia has labeled the group “extremist” on multiple occasions, and NPR says an Interfax report recorded Svetlana Borisova, an attorney for the Justice Ministry, claiming the Jehovah’s Witnesses “pose a threat to the rights of citizens, public order and public security.”
“We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity,” said Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, in the organization’s press release. “We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible.”
“The main problem that we face now is misuse of the anti-extremism law,” said Sivulskiy, according to NPR. “In the whole world, Jehovah’s Witnesses are known as peaceful, obedient, respectful citizens. We respect government, and we are politically totally neutral.”
The religious group has 30 days to submit an appeal to the court’s ruling. The appeal would be considered by a three-person panel.
Christianity is the largest religious group in Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church claims to have a worldwide membership of about 150 million. According to several media reports, Russian Orthodox leaders have supported the ban on the Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose religious views conflict with many Russian Orthodox teachings.
Justin Haskins
