Moscow City Court Rejects Jehovah's Witnesses' Complaint in Prosecutor's Warning Case

On January 16, 2017, the Moscow City Court dismissed the appeal of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, in which believers challenged the warning issued to their Administrative Center.

Yaroslav Sivulsky, a representative of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, said: "Extremism among Jehovah's Witnesses is a delusion that has been repeated a hundredfold, but has not become true because of this. For more than 60 years, the Russian authorities have been well aware that we are as far from extremism as heaven is from earth. Our believers went to prison and even went to be shot, just not to raise weapons against people, no matter what ideals it was for. We have nothing to do with extremism."

The incident was the result of erroneous decisions of the lower courts to include a number of religious publications of Jehovah's Witnesses in the federal list of extremist materials (FSEM). Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies actively use falsified evidence (planting materials from the FSEM, false testimony) to fine believers and file lawsuits to liquidate local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jehovah's Witnesses intend to use all legal remedies to prove the absurdity of the accusations. They hope that justice will prevail.