Russia’s Supreme Court Rules Against Jehovah’s Witnesses

After six days of hearings over the last two weeks, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation today upheld the claim submitted by the Ministry of Justice to liquidate the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia and 395 Local Religious Organizations (LROs) used by Witnesses throughout Russia. The ruling goes into effect immediately.
“We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply concerned about how this will affect our religious activity,” states Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia.
“We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be fully restored as soon as possible.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have 30 days to submit their appeal for consideration by a three-person panel.