Facing prison in Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses are waiting in San Diego to see if the U.S. will protect them - S.D. Union-Tribune, CA

[Parale]

A front page article from the San Diego Union-Tribune dated 1 January 2023

 

 

 

The web article, which had been re-titled, is around 2,300-words long, and includes pictures of trolley witnessing.

 

Facing prison in Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses are waiting in San Diego to see if the U.S. will protect them

 

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2023-01-01/russian-jehovahs-witnesses-asylum-san-diego

Edited January 2, 2023 by Parale

[Parale]

The above newspaper article highlights two sisters - I believe both are featured on the official jw-russia.org website:

 

Olga Ponomareva:

• https://jw-russia.org/prisoners/ponomareva.html

 

Anna (Y)Ermak:

• https://jw-russia.org/prisoners/yermak.html

 

The jw-russia.org website also has a timeline of their case:

 

Case of Ponomareva and Yermak in Kholmskaya:

• https://jw-russia.org/cases/kholmskaya4.html

[GeordieGirl]

Thank you for the links to jw-russia.  I read the newspaper article yesterday morning thanks to a FB friend who shared it, but wasn't aware of the timeline and other info. 

 

Only Jehovah could have helped them cope with the monumental emotional and physical stress this must have caused these ones to get to the US.

 

Prayers are needed that the US government will show them compassion and grant them asylum.

[Qapla]

5 hours ago, Parale said:

A front page article from the San Diego Union-Tribune dated 1 January 2023

 

Couldn't read the article in the link - it either wants me to allow ads or subscribe

 

 

[GeordieGirl]

9 hours ago, Qapla said:

 

Couldn't read the article in the link - it either wants me to allow ads or subscribe

 

 

Try this one: 

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2023-01-01/russian-jehovahs-witnesses-asylum-san-diego?fbclid=IwAR19dBMMIhFTGuTHr8AoMqtrtaYMf0sE5Rcy_ExXKqWtNoogek4JQUcXiW8

[Qapla]

The link in the first post gave me this

 

 

 

The new link provided let me get this far

[Parale]

16 minutes ago, Qapla said:

The link in the first post gave me this

 

If you had seen the newspaper yourself - as per my OP image - in the shop, it would have cost you $2.77 plus tax to read it. Quality journalism costs money to produce. You can allow ads, or you can 'low-cost' subscribe for 4 months access.

 

Otherwise you could try doing a google search on the web title and click through on that the link. Sometimes you can get 'one-off' access without needing to subscribe that way.

[Qapla]

Since I often come across links, on this forum as well as elsewhere, that require money to access, my monthly cost for "one-off" or "low cost" monthly subscriptions would add up to a considerable sum each month, I tend to just skip all such links. The same goes for allowing ads on my PC. I didn't load an ad-blocker just to constantly turn it off.

 

I appreciate your efforts to help me read this article and I do realize quality journalism costs money - my family worked for a newspaper for about 15 years - I just don't choose to pay for news on-line or allow ads on my PC when I can help it.

 

 

[Parale]

Interestingly, as a side note - it appears that (?), due to the European GDPR, access to the San Diego Union-Tribune website (part of the LA Times group) is NOW being provided, both ad-free and subscription-free, to European visitors - ie removing any obligations they would have with the GDPR. Previously the website was completely blocked to European visitors

 

For background see:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/25/gdpr-us-based-news-websites-eu-internet-users-la-times

 

[Sheep]

1 hour ago, Qapla said:

Since I often come across links, on this forum as well as elsewhere, that require money to access, my monthly cost for "one-off" or "low cost" monthly subscriptions would add up to a considerable sum each month, I tend to just skip all such links. The same goes for allowing ads on my PC. I didn't load an ad-blocker just to constantly turn it off.

 

I appreciate your efforts to help me read this article and I do realize quality journalism costs money - my family worked for a newspaper for about 15 years - I just don't choose to pay for news on-line or allow ads on my PC when I can help it.

 

Check your PM in a few minutes...

[GeordieGirl]

14 hours ago, Qapla said:

The new link provided let me get this far

 

I'm sorry.  That didn't happen for me.  I was able to read the article without having to subscribe. 

[Qapla]

No problem. You may have allowed ads. I use an ad blocker. 

 

@Sheep made sure I was able to read the article

 

 

[GeordieGirl]

23 minutes ago, Qapla said:

No problem. You may have allowed ads. I use an ad blocker. 

 

@Sheep made sure I was able to read the article

 

 

No I don't allow ads.  I, too, use an ad blocker. 16 items blocked on that page.

 

Maybe it's because I'm not in the US.  Maybe I should set my VPN to the States and see what happens.

Edited January 4, 2023 by GeordieGirl

[Parale]

On 1/2/2023 at 9:54 PM, Parale said:

A front page article from the San Diego Union-Tribune dated 1 January 2023

 

 

 

The web article, which had been re-titled, is around 2,300-words long, and includes pictures of trolley witnessing.

 

Facing prison in Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses are waiting in San Diego to see if the U.S. will protect them

 

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2023-01-01/russian-jehovahs-witnesses-asylum-san-diego

 

👀 UPDATE:

 

Persecuted in Russia for her faith, Jehovah’s Witness wins asylum in San Diego

 

The San Diego Union-Tribune, Saturday 14 January 2023

 

Asylum means Olga Ponomareva won’t be deported to a prison sentence in Russia. The immigration judge said hers was the best documented asylum case he had ever seen.

 

When a San Diego immigration judge told Olga Ponomareva that she would be allowed to stay in the United States, she wanted to leap in the air.

 

She and her 72-year-old mother had just won asylum because of the religious persecution they experienced as Jehovah’s Witnesses in their home country of Russia. She maintained her composure in the courtroom, but inside, she was elated, knowing her life was safe.

 

“When he finally said he was granting asylum, I was overwhelmed with joy,” Ponomareva, 48, recalled, speaking through a Russian interpreter.

 

She and her mother soon left the courtroom to tell the news to their friends who were in the waiting room — Anna Ermak, who fled with Ponomareva and whose asylum case is still pending, and Alex Voloshanovskiy, who is part of the same Russian-speaking Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Encinitas.

 

“I felt that joy,” Ermak said in Russian. “I was also overwhelmed with joy.”

 

Ermak, 40, is hopeful that this means she, her husband and two children will also win protection in the United States. After the hearing, the two families celebrated in their shared home in Escondido with a dinner of Russian dumplings.

 

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2023-01-14/russia-jehovahs-witness-wins-asylum-san-diego

 

[Parale]

13 hours ago, Parale said:

On 1/2/2023 at 9:54 PM, Parale said:

A front page article from the San Diego Union-Tribune dated 1 January 2023

 

 

 

The web article, which had been re-titled, is around 2,300-words long, and includes pictures of trolley witnessing.

 

Facing prison in Russia, Jehovah’s Witnesses are waiting in San Diego to see if the U.S. will protect them

 

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2023-01-01/russian-jehovahs-witnesses-asylum-san-diego

Expand  

 

👀 UPDATE:

 

Persecuted in Russia for her faith, Jehovah’s Witness wins asylum in San Diego

 

The San Diego Union-Tribune, Saturday 14 January 2023

 

Asylum means Olga Ponomareva won’t be deported to a prison sentence in Russia. The immigration judge said hers was the best documented asylum case he had ever seen.

 

When a San Diego immigration judge told Olga Ponomareva that she would be allowed to stay in the United States, she wanted to leap in the air.

 

She and her 72-year-old mother had just won asylum because of the religious persecution they experienced as Jehovah’s Witnesses in their home country of Russia. She maintained her composure in the courtroom, but inside, she was elated, knowing her life was safe.

 

“When he finally said he was granting asylum, I was overwhelmed with joy,” Ponomareva, 48, recalled, speaking through a Russian interpreter.

 

She and her mother soon left the courtroom to tell the news to their friends who were in the waiting room — Anna Ermak, who fled with Ponomareva and whose asylum case is still pending, and Alex Voloshanovskiy, who is part of the same Russian-speaking Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Encinitas.

 

“I felt that joy,” Ermak said in Russian. “I was also overwhelmed with joy.”

 

Ermak, 40, is hopeful that this means she, her husband and two children will also win protection in the United States. After the hearing, the two families celebrated in their shared home in Escondido with a dinner of Russian dumplings.

 

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2023-01-14/russia-jehovahs-witness-wins-asylum-san-diego

 

👀 UPDATE

 

From Russian Persecution to U.S. Asylum

 

Now featured - with picture - on the front page of the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper dated Sunday 15 January 2023

 

 

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2023-01-14/russia-jehovahs-witness-wins-asylum-san-diego