MOSCOW, September 12. /TASS/. The Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group has appealed with the Russian Supreme Court’s presidium a decision on declaring it an extremist organization and banning its activity in Russia.
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"In its complaint, the plaintiff asks to cancel the April 20 decision," a court spokesperson said.
In April, Russia’s Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses to be an extremist organization and outlawed its activity throughout Russia, thereby upholding the Justice Ministry’s requests. The court declared the immediate shutdown of all 395 local chapters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and transferred the organization’s assets into state custody.
Representatives of the organization filed an appeal claiming the facts specified in the lawsuit were not substantiated during hearings in the courtroom. They also said Jehovah’s Witnesses would take the case to the European Court for Human Rights if the appeals college left the ruling unabated.
Jehovah’s Witnesses is an international religious organization that supports offbeat views on the essence of the Christian faith and provides special interpretations of many commonly accepted notions.