The British government says it is “alarmed” by Russia’s ban on Jehovah Witnesses and has launched an appeal for Vladimir Putin to uphold religious freedom.
TheNewsGuru reported the Supreme Court in Russia banned activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the country after describing the group as an extremist organization.
The Supreme Court was deciding on a claim lodged by the Russian Ministry of Justice to liquidate the group’s administrative centre near St Petersburg and 395 local organizations. Its decision will come into effect within 30 days unless an appeal is lodged, when it will be delayed until the resolution of the case.
Baroness Anelay said the ruling by the Russian Supreme Court “effectively criminalises the peaceful worship of 175,000 Russian citizens” and contravenes rights enshrined in the country’s own constitution.
“I am alarmed by the decision of Russia’s Supreme Court to recognize the Jehovah’s Witnesses as ‘extremists’,” the Foreign Office minister said, adding that “The UK calls on the Russian government to uphold its international commitment to freedom of religion”.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses plan to appeal Thursday’s ruling, which came after six days of hearings attended by hundreds of supporters.
“We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity,” said spokesman Yaroslav Sivulskiy.
“We hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible,” he added.
The case could be taken to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled a previous attempted ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia unlawful in 2010.
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