Aggression towards Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia reaches unprecedented heights

[Keep Fighting]

For Immediate Release

September 14, 2011

(Russian)

Aggression towards Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia

reaches unprecedented heights

Authorities’ religious intolerance and harassment reminiscent of the Soviet era

CHEBOKSARY, Russia—For the first time in Russia since the end of the Soviet Union, Russian citizens who are Jehovah’s Witnesses are now being arrested and detained without charges. In addition, illegal searches and raids of homes and places of worship used by the Witnesses continue despite international calls for Russia to put an end to religious intolerance and harassment.

On September 7, 2011, three local Jehovah’s Witnesses were arrested without charges in the Chuvash Republic. Farid Mannafov, Oleg Marchenko, and Aleksey Nikolayev were escorted by the police to an undisclosed location. Their relatives did not find out until the following day that the three were being kept in custody at a temporary detention center. They spent two days in custody. Searches were conducted in the homes of these and other Witness families. Bibles, computers, legal documents, and personal valuables were confiscated. Some searches were carried out for more than six hours.

Also on September 7, some of the religious services of Jehovah’s Witnesses were disrupted in the Chuvash Republic. In what appears to be a coordinated attack on the Witnesses there, police officers intruded into the Witnesses’ places of worship (known as Kingdom Halls) and other premises used by the Witnesses in the cities of Cheboksary, Novocheboksarsk and Kanash. In addition to disrupting the peaceful religious services being held by the Witnesses, those present were searched, forcibly taken to a police station, and fingerprinted against their will. Senior police officers took part in the raids.

Besides the illegal ban on their activities in Moscow, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the incidents in the Chuvash Republic are the most aggressive official acts against them since the formation of the Russian Federation nearly 20 years ago. Vasily Kalin, a representative of the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia, commented: “It is unbelievable that Russian authorities are using Soviet-era methods to throw innocent Christians into prison without charges. These official acts of religious intolerance are without any basis and should stop immediately.” This past year, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to put an end to the violation of the rights of its citizens who are Jehovah’s Witnesses and stop the official mistreatment of the Witnesses in Russia.

Article Source: JW-Media.org

[sianrose]

this will probably happen to all religions worldwide soon...then it will just be us...

U.S. State Department accuses Russia of religious freedom restrictions

September 14, 2011 - 15:40 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Department of State has issued its July-December, 2010 International Religious Freedom Report detailing violations of religious freedom around the world. The list of countries has remained unchanged since 2009 while ten countries, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan and Russia were cited for failing to sufficiently protect religious rights.

“Religious minorities, in particular Muslim followers of Turkish theologian Said Nursi's work, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Scientologists, faced bans on their religious literature and difficulties registering their legal entities,” says the report on Russia.

“The government's level of respect for religious freedom in law and in practice declined with respect to some minority denominations during the reporting period; the government began bringing criminal cases for the first time against individuals in possession of banned religious literature or who were associated with an illegal religious group.”

[Willow]

Thanks for posting that and I already am praying...

[GrumpysWife]

Thanks for posting that and I already am praying...

Me too. Oh how we need the end to come soon.:readbible:We all need to step up and do more than our usual. It just can't be far away.

[sunshine]

Thanks for posting that and I already am praying...

I agree - I get quite upset but then I remember that our Russian family are very faithful and the older more experienced ones are there with the younger newer ones, these faithful ones have survived many decades of persecution and are ready for whatever Satan will chose to throw at them. I try and remember that this kind of thing is prophecied to happen and the sooner it does the sooner we will be in the new system.

So I try and use the time of freedom I have where I live to preach and get stronger and pray, pray PRAY for the friends in Russia and other countries that where the flames are being fanned.

May we ALL have the strength to go through what Jehovah allows.

[PGgenius]

Thanks for posting that and I already am praying...

I agree - I get quite upset but then I remember that our Russian family are very faithful and the older more experienced ones are there with the younger newer ones, these faithful ones have survived many decades of persecution and are ready for whatever Satan will chose to throw at them. I try and remember that this kind of thing is prophecied to happen and the sooner it does the sooner we will be in the new system.

So I try and use the time of freedom I have where I live to preach and get stronger and pray, pray PRAY for the friends in Russia and other countries that where the flames are being fanned.

May we ALL have the strength to go through what Jehovah allows.

The end of the 1990s provided a new law on religion was improved for some minority religious rights in Russia. In the law traditional and new religions are separated, however, and the judicial position of the latter remains secondary

Furthermore, the religion law gives a special position to Russia's Orthodox Church and classifies as the hostile operation the evankeliointi practised by the minority religions.

the law also is conflictingly interpreted in the provinces

It is experienced that the religions which have come from the west are weakening a national identity

The position of the Orthodox church is political and it is experienced as the counterforce to the globalisation which weakens the nation and to the international Islam ism

It is a question of more nationalism than a religion,

the political orthodoxy has been established to maintain a number of institutes and foundations, which have linkages to the oligarchs and the political leadership.

So, I think Do not expect any change!

[Willow]

Thanks Jani. That was most enlightening... and helps me to understand how they could possibly ignore the law.

[sunshine]

Thank you Jani,

That was very interesting - I must admit when reading about the Russian trials it is a very foreign concept for me to see a court discussion scripture and hearing them sanction material against the Russian Church - that would never happen in the west were it isn't deemed the courts place to defend the Church.

Babylon will indeed sit pretty but remember, the very powers that she uses against us will, in 'one hour' turn against her!

[PGgenius]

Thank you Jani,

That was very interesting - I must admit when reading about the Russian trials it is a very foreign concept for me to see a court discussion scripture and hearing them sanction material against the Russian Church - that would never happen in the west were it isn't deemed the courts place to defend the Church.

Babylon will indeed sit pretty but remember, the very powers that she uses against us will, in 'one hour' turn against her!

My pleasure!

Orthodoxy of the Russian today: nationalism, violations of human rights and big money.the religious laws

is tightened continuously, it is started from the assumption that the Russian is a Orthodox

Church with Russian turns its own tobacco importing business

at the same time when the homeless children sell themselves on the streets of towns.

with the business the correction of real estates is financed and change impressive operation outwards.

"I sit a queen, and I am no widow, and I shall never see mourning.” (Revelation 18:7)

[PGgenius]

Thank you Jani,

and example one links that what I saying

http://www.newint.org/features/1997/04/05/endpiece/

[Keep Fighting]

Dear friends. While we are waiting for the end to come and the GT will be here, we have to pray for our brothers and sisters. We don't`t know how long it will be before we are in the same situation, so let us preach, preach, preach as much as possible. I still remember the last talker from our Betel family in our summer convention said: "We don't know this visit we are making could be the last one to this house before the end comes". (our country is small and the normal area we visit are well known of the Truth)

Christian love to you all.

{{Split comment from the initial post and moved it to the JW News forum. - Bob}}