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Moscow court turns down Jehovah’s Witnesses bid to fight Justice Ministry’s ban

On April 20, Russia’s Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses to be an extremist organization

Russian administrative centre of Jehovah's Witnesses Alexandr Demyanchuk/TASS

Russian administrative centre of Jehovah's Witnesses

© Alexandr Demyanchuk/TASS

MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky court has rejected a lawsuit filed by the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group against the Justice Ministry’s ruling on banning its activity in Russia, a TASS correspondent reported from the courtroom.

The organization asked the court to recognize the Justice Ministry’s ruling as illegal and order its cancellation. "The court decided to reject the lawsuit of the religious organization "Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center in Russia," Judge Nelli Rubtsova said.

Read also

Russia’s Supreme Court bans Jehovah’s Witnesses as extremist organization

On April 20, 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. Jehovah’s Witnesses said it would appeal the decision.

In its lawsuit, the Justice Ministry pointed to various violations by the organization’s activities revealed during a surprise inspection, including of the Law on Counteracting Extremist Activities.

On October 12, 2016, Moscow’s Tverskoy district court issued a warning to the Jehovah’s Witnesses Administrative Center based on revelations of extremism there. Under Russian law, a religious association or organization is subject to termination if it does not remedy the specified manifestations of extremism before the required deadline or displays any new ones.

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.

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