F.S.B. BEGINS ARRESTING JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ON KOLA PENINSULA; DOZENS FLEE TO FINLAND
Criminal cases opened after raids by F.S.B. and the Russian Guard at six addresses in the closed naval city of Polyarny
by Thomas Nilsen
Berents Observer, 20 April 2018
In April of last year, by a decision of the Russian Supreme Court, all organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of the country were banned, and the religious group was ruled to be extremist.
On Friday, a newspaper of the regional authorities of Murmansk oblast reported raids by the Federal Security Service and National Guard of Russia (Russian Guard) in the city of Polyarny on the Kola peninsula.
Two local residents were arrested on suspicion of membership in the central administrative body of Jehovah's Witnesses of Russia, organized study, and meetings at which reading of forbidden religious literature was conducted. Searches were conducted at six addresses in Polyaarny.
In the city of Polyarny there is a ship repair factory for naval vessels and also a base of several diesel submarines and other military ships of the Northern Fleet.
The law on extremist organizations, which prohibits the activity of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, provides for a maximum sentence of from six to ten years incarceration.
Meanwhile, a mass flight of adherents of the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses from Russia has begun. More than a thousand persons at the present time are requesting asylum in several European countries, including Finland, the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported this winter.
"It all began last summer and at that time the first Witness requested asylum in Finland," Viekko Leininen, the press secretary of the Finnish subdivision of the organization told the newspaper. "At least many dozens of new appeals are expected," he said.
An advisor on work with the press of the Norwegian Immigration Agency, Terese Bargvits-Larsen, cannot give details in speaking about the reasons for appeals for asylum in Norway. "Unfortunately we cannot say anything on the whole about the reasons for appeals for asylum since their number [from Russia] is very small."
According to statistics of the Norwegian Immigration Agency, 15 persons arrived from Russia in the first three months of this year. In 2017, 58 Russians applied to Norway for asylum.
The number of adherents of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is estimated at approximately 175,000. That is, that was before the organization was ruled to be extremist. Provoking a skeptical attitude toward themselves because of refusal of military service, participation in elections, and blood transfusion, members of the organization consider it to be a threat both for themselves and for their children and public security.
Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to persecution in the time of soviet authority also.
Recently the organization Human Rights Watch requested of Russian authorities that they put a stop to charges against Danish citizen Dennis Christensen connected with his religious activity. Christensen has been held in an investigation isolation cell in the city of Orel for eleven months now. According to the statement of Human Rights Watch, Russia is a member of the Council of Europe and a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights and consequently is obligated to protect the rights to freedom of religion and participation in associations. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 April 2018)
TWO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF PLANNING ACTIVITY OF A FORBIDDEN ORGANIZATION IN MURMANSK OBLAST
SOVA Center for News and Analysis, 20 April 2018
On 20 April 2018, the Investigation Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for Murmansk oblast reported the arrest of two residents of the city of Polyarny (part of the Alexandrovsk closed administrative territorial formation) on suspicion of planning the activity of an extremist organization (part 1 of article 282 of Criminal Code).
According to information of the directorate, in spite of the decision of the Supreme Court finding the Jehovah's Witnesses organizations extremist, the detainees have been directing since April 2017 the activity of the local Polyarny religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "by means of convoking and conducting meetings, directing recruitment of new members, and disseminating texts of religious literature to participants in the meeting."
With armed support of special forces of the Russian Guard for Murmansk oblast and the UFSB of Russia for the Northern Fleet, investigators of the Investigative Committee conducted searches simultaneously at six addresses and seized a "great quantity of literature, and electronic data storage." In addition, the investigation established "a circle of persons who participated in meetings and also persons who planned and conducted them using the Internet."
It is also known that 16 citizens, including minors, were taken to the directorate of the Investigative Committee. The detainees were men aged 44 to 61 years.
The decision finding the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and 395 local organizations to be extremist was made by the Russian Supreme Court in April 2017. In July, an appeal of this decision was rejected, after which, in August, organizations were included in the list of extremist organizations. We consider that this decision as well as the prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses on the whole do not have legal bases and are a clear manifestation of religious discrimination. (tr. by PDS, posted 20 April 2018)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.