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Russian court applies Supreme Court ruling in Jehovah's Witnesses' favor

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES' BOOK REMOVED FROM FEDERAL LIST OF EXTREMIST MATERIALS

SOVA Center for News and Analysis, 15 July 2015

 

In Kursk a decision of a court was reversed, which had found the book "What God says to us through Jeremiah" to be extremist material.

 

On 15 July 2015, it was reported that the Kursk provincial court reversed the decision of the Lenin district court of Kursk of 11 April 2014, which had found the book "What God says to us through Jeremiah" (Watch Tower bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 2010) to be extremist material.

 

The court of the second instance was guided by the order No. 11 of the plenum of the Supreme Court of the RF, "Concerning the judicial practice in criminal cases regarding crimes of an extremist nature," according to which "criticism of religious associations in and of itself should not be viewed as action aimed at the incitement of hatred or strife."

 

Thus, the book, which at the present time is on the federal list of extremist materials under point 2444, should be removed from it.

 

We welcome the decision of the Kursk provincial court and we hope for the removal from the federal list of it and of other materials of the Jehovah's Witnesses that were illegally entered into it.  We recall that we consider the practice of prohibitions on literature of the Jehovah's Witnesses for extremism to be illegal and we regard prosecution of this religious movement in Russia as discrimination. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 July 2015)


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