COURT RULES ESSENTIAL BOOKS OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES PROHIBITED
by Mikhail Telekhov
The Vyborg city court of Leningrad province recognized several books of the Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist and forbidden for distribution on Russian territory, RAPSI was told on Friday in the court.
"A lawsuit was filed in court by the Leningrad-Finland transport prosecutor," the court specified.
The transport prosecutor's office explained that the court recognized these books to be prohibited: "Sacred Scripture. New World Translation," "Science Instead of the Bible," "How to Improve Health," and "The Bible and its Chief Topic."
The news agency's interlocutor said that these are the most important propaganda and religious materials of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses banned in Russia. "Within the framework of this civil trial, the court was able to get around the equation of 'Sacred Scripture' with the Synodal translation of the canonical Bible, which the law forbids to regard as extremist. As a result, experts drew the conclusion of the independent character of paradigms that are foundational for Jehovah's Witnesses, emphasizing that it is not related to essential principles of Christian teaching," the prosecutor's office explained.
It was reported at the court that after the court's decision takes legal effect it will be sent to the Russian Ministry of Justice for inclusion of the aforementioned books in the Federal List of Extremist Materials. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 August 2017)
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