ECHR Again Condemns Russia to Respect Freedom of Religion

[Allabord4Jah]

(From JW.ORG)

 

JULY 1, 2014 | RUSSIA

The European Court of Human Rights Again Condemns Russia for Its Failure to Respect Freedom of Religion

On June 26, 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in favor of Jehovah’s Witnesses and their right to worship without unlawful interference from the Russian authorities. In its unanimous judgment, the Court found that Russia violated Articles 5 (right to liberty and security) and 9 (freedom of thought, conscience, and religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) when police overwhelmed a religious service with an illegal raid on the night of April 12, 2006.

On that night, Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world were gathered together for their annual religious observance commemorating the death of Jesus Christ. Two congregations in Moscow had rented a school auditorium for the special meeting and anticipated an attendance of over 400 worshippers. While the meeting was in progress, riot police arrived at the scene in ten police vehicles and two minibuses, with an armed unit of the Special Police Force (OMON) and dozens of uniformed police officers. They quickly cordoned off the building, and without warrant for their actions, disrupted the religious service. They ordered all in attendance to leave the building, then searched the auditorium, confiscated religious literature, and forcibly took 14 male attendees to the local police station and detained them. An attorney who had been contacted to represent the detained Witnesses arrived at the police station to assist them. The police searched him, threw him to the ground, put a knife to his throat, and threatened that if he filed a complaint, there would be unpleasant consequences for his family. After nearly four hours, the detainees were released and allowed to return home.

Nikolay Krupko, lead applicant in the case

Nikolay Krupko, along with three other Witnesses who were detained, brought suit against the authorities for illegally disrupting the religious meeting and unlawfully detaining them. After the Lyublino District Court and the Moscow City Court rejected their complaint, the men submitted an application to the ECHR in June 2007.

In its June 26 judgment entitled Krupko and Others v. Russia, the ECHR stated: “The Court has consistently held that, even in cases where the authorities had not been properly notified of a public event but where the participants did not represent a danger to the public order, dispersal of a peaceful assembly by the police could not be regarded as having been ‘necessary in a democratic society.’ . . . This finding applies a fortiori in the circumstances of the present case where the assembly in question was not a tumultuous outdoors event but a solemn religious ceremony in an assembly hall which was not shown to create any disturbance or danger to the public order. The intervention of armed riot police in substantial numbers with the aim of disrupting the ceremony, even if the authorities genuinely believed that lack of advance notice rendered it illegal, followed by the applicants’ arrest and three-hour detention, was disproportionate for the protection of public order.”

This is the third judgment against Russia for violating the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In a 2007 judgment entitled Kuznetsov and Others v. Russia, the ECHR ruled that Russia violated the Convention when local authorities illegally disrupted a meeting of hearing-impaired Witnesses in Chelyabinsk. In 2010, the ECHR ruled against Russia in Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow v. Russia, a case in which the Moscow City Prosecutor’s Office unlawfully liquidated and banned the Witnesses’ legal entity in Moscow. The judgments of the ECHR add further proof that the Russian authorities, in attempting to suppress the worship of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, have violated the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Convention.

Arli Chimirov, one of the attorneys who represented the applicants before the Court, stated: “After three clear decisions from the ECHR, we hope that Russia will comply with these judgments. We look forward to the day when Russian authorities will stop illegally raiding religious meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses and end the state-sponsored campaign of persecution.”

 

[Greg Dent]

I saw that on jw.org. Good for the Brothers. When will governments learn they can't push us around? Obviously when its too late. Jehovah will always win. Thank you Father for helping our Brothers.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Greg Dent

[shali]

It's a shame that the ECHR can't MAKE Russia comply with it's rulings. They rule and then Russia ignores them and they rule again and Russia ignores them again. Apparently there are no consequences or sanctions for ignoring their rulings and therein lies the problem. Why would they comply with the rulings if they don't have consequences for ignoring them?

[Greg Dent]

The world could even make russia leave Crimea alone how can the EU make them leave our brothers alone? Its a bloody stinking joke is all it is.

[shali]

There's a bully on the loose!

[Dustparticle]

There's a bully on the loose!

That is true. That bully is PUNY. When punies like him push us around then we get stronger by Jehovah's spirit.

[Allabord4Jah]

Our brothers and sister's in that town in Russia were convicted, check out JW.ORG Newsroom.  But all the fines and prison sentences were commuted.  Still this (according to the article) sets up a bad situation for all our brothers and sister's in all of Russia and perhaps other countries as well.   Russia has it's own agenda and is self willed.  It knows that no one will come after them or force them to change their day by day rules, laws and taking over other nations.  They are a machine on the march!   Only one who can stop them is Jehovah's Kingdom. 

[Greg Dent]

There is already an entire new thread on that.