Jehovah's Witnesses of Southern Russia report problems after liquidation judgement

In Southern Russia, the religious communities of Jehovah's Witnesses expect massive persecutions after the judgement of the Russia’s Supreme Court (SC) to liquidate the communities in Russia as extremist ones.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 20 the SC of Russia satisfied the demand of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to liquidate all the 396 religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as extremist. The believers have treated the verdict as biased and promised to appeal against it.

Members of one of the Dagestani communities of Jehovah's Witnesses report that their landlord has cancelled the lease agreement on the premises, used as the place for community meetings in the city of Derbent.

According to Nikolai, a member of the community, the landlord made the decision after being summoned by power agents, who threatened him with problems. "They explained to him that should he continue granting premises to the community, he may face problems with doing his business," Nikolai said.

According to his story, local power structures "were instructed to collect data about the community members." "We’ve received such information; and I think that collection will begin soon," he explained.

Andrei, another member of the Dagestani community of Jehovah's Witnesses, believes that in future the authorities’ pressure on the believers will intensify. In his opinion, "it can go so far as to make us go underground, which had happened more than once" in the history of the religious organization.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.