{"id":709470,"date":"2019-09-24T18:20:17","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T18:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2019\/09\/24\/russia-increases-crackdown-on-jehova-witnesses-reuters\/"},"modified":"2019-09-24T18:20:17","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T18:20:17","slug":"russia-increases-crackdown-on-jehova-witnesses-reuters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/09\/24\/russia-increases-crackdown-on-jehova-witnesses-reuters\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia Increases Crackdown On Jehova Witnesses: Reuters"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Court gavel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Russia has increased its crackdown against Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, jailing six adherents for extremism in what has been described as unjust by a move rights activists.<\/p>\n

According to a court spokesperson, a regional court in Saratov jailed six Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses on Thursday for up to three-and-a-half years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes they were convicted,\u201d the spokeswoman, Olga Pirueva, said. \u201cPunishments ranged from three years and six months down to two years (in jail).\u201d<\/p>\n

The court found the six men guilty of continuing the activities of an extremist organization, a reference to a 2017 ruling from Russia\u2019s Supreme Court which found the group to be an \u201cextremist\u201d organisation and ordered it to disband, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n

Read Also:\u00a0Serena Williams won\u2019t celebrate daughter\u2019s first birthday due to Jehovah\u2019s Witness beliefs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The latest jailings follow the conviction in February of a Danish builder in Russia for his association with Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses. Dennis Christensen was found guilty of organizing an extremist group and jailed for six years.<\/p>\n

Over 250 Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in Russia are facing criminal charges, according to the group, with 41 in detention and 23 under house arrest, according to reports.<\/p>\n

Under Thursday\u2019s ruling, Konstantin Bazhenov and Alexei Budenchuk were sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail, Felix Makhammadiev to three years, and Roman Gridasov, Gennady German, and Alexei Miretsky to two years in prison each.<\/p>\n

The court also banned them from holding leadership positions in public organizations for five years.<\/p>\n

Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses say Russia\u2019s constitution guarantees their adherents\u2019 right to exercise freedom of religion and deny wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole logic of the accusation was based on the speculative thesis that faith in God is \u2018a continuation of the activities of an extremist organization\u2019,\u201d Jarrod Lopes, a U.S.-based spokesman for the Jehovah\u2019s Witness, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of searching and proving the guilt of the defendants, the aim of the investigation was to prove their religious affiliation, despite the fact that no religion is prohibited in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the men plan to appeal what they regard as absurd convictions, said Lopes, according to Reuters report.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Court gavel Russia has increased its crackdown against Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, jailing six adherents for extremism in what has been described as unjust by a move rights activists. According to a court spokesperson, a regional court in Saratov jailed six Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses on Thursday for up to three-and-a-half years. \u201cYes they were convicted,\u201d the spokeswoman, Olga […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":709471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-709470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nRussia Increases Crackdown On Jehova Witnesses: Reuters - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/09\/24\/russia-increases-crackdown-on-jehova-witnesses-reuters\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Russia Increases Crackdown On Jehova Witnesses: Reuters - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Court gavel Russia has increased its crackdown against Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, jailing six adherents for extremism in what has been described as unjust by a move rights activists. 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