Russia attempts to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses for ‘extremism’

Authorities in Russia are waging a legal battle against Jehovah’s Witnesses, using “extremism” laws in an attempt to ban the religious group. Persecution experts warn the verdict could have far-reaching implications for all religions, including non-Russian Orthodox Christians.

Russia suspended the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses on March 24, claiming they “violate Russia’s laws on combating extremism,” according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).

Russia’s Ministry of Justice sued to get the religious group’s national headquarters declared “extremist” and banned, after harassing members for years, The Moscow Times reported. Since 2006 legislation broadened the definition of extremism, authorities in local Russian districts have used it to block Jehovah’s Witness activities, Reuters reported.

Supreme Court hearings over a potential nationwide ban began last week and resume April 12. The court upheld a citywide ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses on April 6.

Authorities already limit the group’s activity by restricting publications and raiding services. The government even prosecuted two members for extremism last year, but found them not guilty, The New York Times reported. After the verdict, one of the men, Andrei Sivak, learned his name is on a list of dangerous extremists that includes Islamic terrorists.

Soon after last week’s hearing began, the Supreme Court rejected a countersuit from the group that asked its members be declared “victims of political repression,” the BBC reported.

Several religious liberty and human rights groups, including USCIRF and The Helsinki Commission, criticized Russia’s attempts to ban any religion.

Headquartered in the United States, Jehovah’s Witnesses has about 175,000 adherents in Russia. If the Ministry of Justice suit succeeds, officials would seize and liquidate church properties and all organizers and members could face punishment.

Jehovah’s Witnesses teaches pacifism, discourages voting and political participation, and rejects blood transfusions. Due to theological differences, Christians do not consider Jehovah’s Witnesses a Christian denomination.

But groups like Open Doors USA fight for religious freedom for all religions, knowing Christians could just as easily be targeted.

“Any time you’re labeling a group with an extremist ideology, it puts other faith groups at risk … We need to speak up because it could very well be Christians next,” Open Doors spokeswoman Emily Fuentes told Mission Network News.

Vladimir Vasilyevich Ryakhovskiy, a member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, noted the criminal code includes “severe” punishment of two to six years imprisonment for “participation” in the activities of any banned extremist group. Organizers could face stiffer sentences. In an April 5 video posted online, he called prosecution “inevitable,” if the court declares the group’s members extremists.

Thinking a ruling against Jehovah’s Witnesses won’t affect others is delusional, said Ryakhovskiy, who recalled Russia’s history of persecution: “It has always started with Jehovah’s Witnesses, but eventually it affected everyone.”

Russia’s evangelical Christians already face persecution under 2016 laws designed to prevent terrorism. The Yarovaya legislation banned proselytizing, preaching, and praying outside officially recognized religious institutions. Independent Baptist missionary Don Ossewaarde was the first American charged. He is taking his religious freedom fight to Russia’s Supreme Court.