Their meeting places were raided by heavily armed police and arrests made. Their Halls were shut down and they are being persecuted with the sanction of the Russian Orthodox Church.
These kinds of heavy handed tactics are nothing new in Russia. It reminds me of the armed guards coming to arrest Jesus. Since when is an armed militia needed to arrest a quiet group of unarmed Christians?
"Critics accuse the authorities of exploiting anti-terrorism laws to pressure the group. “There were no grounds at all to bar the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” says Alexander Verkhovsky, an expert on anti-extremist legislation at the Moscow-based Sova human rights center. “Yes, they insist that their religion is the only right one. But so do most other religions. No one has even accused them of any specific extremist actions.” (Russia’s Justice Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.)
Analysts at the United Nations say the suppression of the Christian movement signals a “dark future” for religious freedom in Russia. Kremlin officials insist, however, that the Supreme Court ruling merely blacklists the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization, and does not infringe upon individuals’ rights to practice their religion of choice, as guaranteed by the country’s post-Soviet constitution.
Many observers disagree. “The escalating crackdown on the Jehovah’s Witnesses without doubt represents Russia’s worst backsliding on religious freedom since the Soviet era,” says Geraldine Fagan, editor of East-West Church and Ministry Report, an online publication that monitors Christianity-related issues in former Soviet countries."
http://www.newsweek.com/2018/06/01/jehovahs-witnesses-939860.html
I guess the law can be manipulated to ban people who are your most honest and hard working citizens?
Makes you wonder what kind of threat they think we are.....? Do they imagine that our message of peace is a threat to Russian security?
These kinds of heavy handed tactics are nothing new in Russia. It reminds me of the armed guards coming to arrest Jesus. Since when is an armed militia needed to arrest a quiet group of unarmed Christians?
"Critics accuse the authorities of exploiting anti-terrorism laws to pressure the group. “There were no grounds at all to bar the Jehovah’s Witnesses,” says Alexander Verkhovsky, an expert on anti-extremist legislation at the Moscow-based Sova human rights center. “Yes, they insist that their religion is the only right one. But so do most other religions. No one has even accused them of any specific extremist actions.” (Russia’s Justice Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.)
Analysts at the United Nations say the suppression of the Christian movement signals a “dark future” for religious freedom in Russia. Kremlin officials insist, however, that the Supreme Court ruling merely blacklists the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization, and does not infringe upon individuals’ rights to practice their religion of choice, as guaranteed by the country’s post-Soviet constitution.
Many observers disagree. “The escalating crackdown on the Jehovah’s Witnesses without doubt represents Russia’s worst backsliding on religious freedom since the Soviet era,” says Geraldine Fagan, editor of East-West Church and Ministry Report, an online publication that monitors Christianity-related issues in former Soviet countries."
http://www.newsweek.com/2018/06/01/jehovahs-witnesses-939860.html
I guess the law can be manipulated to ban people who are your most honest and hard working citizens?
Makes you wonder what kind of threat they think we are.....? Do they imagine that our message of peace is a threat to Russian security?
