Emmanuel Thomas l Sunday, March 12, 2017
MOSCOW, Russia – It is now clear that the Russian Government is determined to proscribe activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the Russian federation following recent demands made by the Vladimir Putin-led government.
The Russian Ministry of Justice has issued an order directing the Administrative Centre of Jehovah’s Witnesses to provide information about all 2, 277 congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia.
This information will make it possible for the Russian Government to clamp down on activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses and possible arrest of those taking the lead.
The Ministry of Justice issued this latest order on February 21,2017 while it was conducting an inspection of the Administrative Center, ordered by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
“During that inspection, authorities focused only on the legal entities that the Witnesses use. These entities include the Administrative Center itself as well as Local Religious Organizations, which congregations use to hold title to properties for religious services.
“On February 27, 2017, the Ministry of Justice concluded its inspection and reported that the Administrative Center violated the law and showed signs of engaging in “extremist activity”, the JW said on its website.
Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world are gravely concerned for their fellow believers in Russia. With this second order, the Ministry of Justice has turned its attention to the congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
“Based on the authorities’ latest actions, the Witnesses believe that the Prosecutor General is moving not only to liquidate all legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia but also to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses throughout the Russian Federation”, they said.
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