Jehovah's Witnesses News

For Immediate Release
July 12, 2010

RUSSE, Bulgaria—The Administrative Court in Russe, Bulgaria, upheld human rights and religious freedom in Bulgaria when, on Monday, May 31, 2010, the court ruled that citizens of the country have the right to share their religious beliefs in public places. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

By KRYSTEL ROLLE
In a dispute that stretches back nearly two decades, the attorney representing a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses made a final attempt yesterday to convince the Court of Appeal to overturn a Supreme Court decision which requires his clients to continue to make National Insurance contributions. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8%

For Immediate Release
June 1, 2010

Domestic options exhausted in Russia;
Jehovah’s Witnesses appeal to the European Court of Human Rights

STRASBOURG—Where a vibrant community of Christians once worshipped, now stands a vacant building, sealed by Russian authorities whose application of the law to counteract extremist activity violates the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses to worship freely.

On December 8, 2009, the Russian Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of the Local Religious Organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the western city of Taganrog, near the Ukraine border, effectively liquidating the activity of that congregation. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8%

By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service

The head of the Belarusian capital Minsk’s City Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Committee has denied to Forum 18 News Service that his action against the New Life Full Gospel Church is politically motivated. “I’m depoliticised,” Aleksandr Borovikov insisted of his attempt to prosecute the church for alleged oil pollution, “I’m not part of any campaign against the church.” Church members think the massive, disputed fine imposed on the church for environmental damage is part of the long-running state campaign against them. While concerned that grass being grown for a children’s playground at the church might also cause environmental damage, Borovikov seemed unfazed when Forum 18 raised concerns about accumulated rubbish – including rotting vehicles and old washing machines – dumped within 500 metres of the church. Meanwhile, Pastor Vladimir Kochegur of New Life’s sister church in Novogrudok has insisted that the fine imposed on him for religious activity at home was unjustified. “They claim I held a worship service late at night on 16 March, but there was no such meeting,” he told Forum 18. In Brest Region, police and ideology officials have similarly moved against a Baptist street library for operating without state permission. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6%

For Immediate Release
May 28, 2010

CHELYABINSK, Russia—On one day, May 12, 2010, at least 11 searches were carried out at the work places and apartments of Jehovah’s Witnesses, as well as in buildings used for their worship. Chelyabinsk police started the raids early in the morning, awakening families, including children, and seizing books, cell phones, computers, notebooks and other personal belongings. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

For Immediate Release
May 27, 2010

SUMGAYIT, Azerbaijan —Police detained two more women, Aygul Nasirova and Rahima Huseynova, for having a peaceful conversation about the Bible with a woman they met in their public ministry as Jehovah’s Witnesses. This happened May 4, 2010, in the city of Sumgayit, when the police confiscated both women’s personal copies of the Bible and Bible-based literature. Later that day the police conducted an unauthorized search of the apartment where Nasirova lives and unlawfully confiscated more personal religious literature, as well as her laptop computer. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7%

For Immediate Release
May 14, 2010

MOSCOW—On May 12, 2010, lawyers for the local religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Taganrog filed a supervisory appeal to the Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the decision to declare 34 Christian publications extremist and to liquidate the religious community. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10%

For Immediate Release
May 12, 2010

AGSTAFA, Azerbaijan—Three women were fined 200 AZN ($250 US) each for distributing educational religious literature in the City of Agstafa, in the west of Azerbaijan. When the women later explained to a presiding judge that they are allowed to express their religious convictions under the European Convention on Human Rights, he informed them the Convention did not apply. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8%

For Immediate Release
May 6, 2010

In a sea of resistance there is growth

ST. PETERSBURG—The number of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are still regarded as a minority faith in Russia, increased in the month of March, even though in recent months they have encountered extraordinary resistance. They recorded a peak of 158,925 active members.

Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide are known for their peaceful but active involvement in their communities, their engagement in the Christian mandate to spread “good news of good things” and to “make disciples of people of all the nations.”—Romans 10:15; Matthew 28:19, 20. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11%

For Immediate Release
April 23, 2010

Nagorno-Karabakh—At 8:00 p.m. on March 30, 2010, local officials raided a peaceful religious meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses who had gathered for the annual commemoration of the death of Jesus Christ. The officials refused to let the religious meeting continue. Two of the men in attendance were taken to the police station, where they were interrogated, fingerprinted, and held until almost midnight. The officials claimed it was illegal for Jehovah’s Witnesses to meet together because they currently do not have official religious registration from the State Registry Department. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9%