https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/04/20/russia-just-effectively-banned-jehovahs-witnesses-from-the-country/?utm_term=.8219a1eae8d0
Very disturbing to see this sort of repression happen.
Quote:
After years, even decades, of persecution against the religious group, the Kremlin moved to get rid of the denomination for good. In February, Jehovah's Witnesses were labeled "extremists" and locked out of their offices.
Then Kremlin officials launched a legal effort to ban the faith. That case quickly wound its way to the Supreme Court, where Justice Ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova said the Christian group posed a "threat" to "public order and public security."
....
Experts like Alexander Verkhovsky, who monitors extremism in Russia, say there is no evidence that Jehovah's Witnesses are a public threat. "I cannot imagine that anyone really thinks they are a threat," he told the New York Times. "But they are seen as a good target. They are pacifists, so they cannot be radicalized, no matter what you do to them."
As The Washington Post reported earlier this month:
But experts say there's something different going on today. The church's 170,000 Russian members don't vote, won't serve in the military and refuse to attend national celebrations that glorify violence. That means they often avoid state-sponsored rallies celebrating, say, the annexation of Crimea. That's a problem for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is naturally suspicious of groups with pro-Western sympathies (the sect is based in the United States). It's also a way for him to show support to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Experts see it, too, as part of a broader campaign against Russian civil society using the 2002 anti-extremism law. Officially, the rule was touted as a measure against radicalized violence from homegrown and foreign terrorists. But it's been broadly interpreted, used to jail anyone from anti-government activists to Muslims with no ties to terrorism or violence.
Very disturbing to see this sort of repression happen.
