Russia Table of Contents • Russia
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Table of contents • Russia: Over a hundred believers of several faiths behind bars • Can homes now be freely used for worship meetings? • Heavy sentences against real and alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir members • CRIMEA: Court orders parish to destroy its chapel • In Moscow, Old Believers begin to assert their heritage • CRIMEA: UN call to halt Cathedral eviction • Gideons scripture distribution leads to 5,000 ruble fine • High court acknowledges spiritual needs • CRIMEA: Six Tatar Muslims sentenced to 76 years in prison on fabricated charges • CRIMEA: Inver Bekirov: ‘If a Muslim observes his faith, the FSB makes him a terrorist’ • Six years of prison for JW Sergey Klimov • Large fine on appeal instead of 26 months of forced labor for JW Valeriy Moskalenko • CRIMEA: Four months in Russian prison punishment cell • 32 people on trial after nationwide ban • Jehovah's Witness criminal cases • Jailings "equate peaceful believers with dangerous criminals" • 38 Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison and more to be jailed: 248 criminal cases opened • Six more Jehovah’s Witnesses convicted and sentenced to years in prison • HRWF statement at the OSCE/ ODIHR: Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses and other peaceful believers • CRIMEA: Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion in the occupied Crimea • Mosque demolished, church to follow? • In Russia, a Hindu guru alleges smear campaign by Orthodox Christian activist • Inappropriate prohibition of religious literature • USCIRF statement on travel ban for Russian religious freedom violators • European Russian Orthodox reject Moscow patriarchate • CRIMEA: Russia’s destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Crimea hits unexpected hurdle • CRIMEA: Russia is barbarically vandalizing UNESCO world heritage site at Chersonese in occupied Crimea Human Rights Without Frontiers FoRB Newsletter | Russia • Losing places of worship • Over 60% of Russians identify as Orthodox, 1 out of every 6 is atheist • CRIMEA: Prisoner sent to Russia, more awaiting trial • Jehovah’s Witnesses: 612 home raids since the 2017 ban • Prosecutions against religious organizations and believers in June and July • CRIMEA: Ukraine church's only temple in occupied Crimea plundered • 226 Jehovah’s Witnesses are facing criminal charges in Russia and Crimea • Siberian Jehovah's Witnesses harassed by officials • Tortured for beliefs, suspect torturers rewarded • A Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to a heavy fine for worshipping • Six Jehovah's Witnesses criminally indicted in Penza • Putin touts Christianity. So why is Russia persecuting Christians? • Actions against Jehovah's Witnesses in south of Russia • Action against Jehovah's Witnesses in south of Russia: three men and one women arrested • Jehovah's Witness criminal cases – list • Second Oryol Jehovah's Witness appeal • Jehovah's Witness appeal fails, appeal to Strasbourg • Danish Jehovah’s Witness Dennis Christensen loses appeal: 6 years in prison • Dennis Christensen’s six-year prison sentence maintained on appeal • Imprisonment completed, citizenship stripped, awaiting deportation • Interview: An Orthodox perspective of religious persecution in Russia • Jehovah's Witnesses make an interim summary of persecution in 2019 • Four Jehovah’s Witnesses arrested and sentenced to prison terms in Smolensk • Jehovah's Witness in pretrial custody in Krasnoyarsk territory • Russia charges Baptist pastor in a sign that its religious clampdown could be spreading • CRIMEA: Occupiers want to set up ‘rehabilitation center’ for Hizb Ut-Tahrir Crimean Muslims • CRIMEA: Raids, another criminal case, four appeals • Increased persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses • Two U.S. Mormons released from custody in Russia return home • Russia releases two American Mormon missionaries detained for almost three weeks • 150 Jehovah’s Witnesses under investigation Human Rights Without Frontiers FoRB Newsletter | Russia • Mormons worry about a fate like Jehovah's Witnesses • Krasnodar Territorial Court upholds deportation of 2 U.S. religious missionaries from Russia • One of two U.S. Mormons detained in southern Russia to be deported, a second may follow • Protestant attorney prompted Putin's order to Supreme Court • Jehovah's Witnesses' attempt to hold onto Kingdom Hall frustrated • Moscow Patriarchate’s UOC says only 12 out of 36,000 communities joined OCU • Withdrawal of the Surgut investigation team urged over torture reports • Torture of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Surgut • Moscow – Beijing: the anti-cult axis of evil • Dennis Christensen behind bars for 6 years: Outcry of the international community • Danish Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to six years in prison in Russia • Statement by the Spokesperson of Frederica Mogherini on the sentencing of Dennis Christensen in Russia • Dennis Christensen found guilty – verdict to be appealed • One Jehovah's Witness refugee's story • CRIMEA: Four years' jail for mosque meetings • BBC features case of Danish Jehovah's Witness • Almost two-year-long trial of Jehovah's Witness nears end • Jehovah’s Witnesses in prison as of 1 January • Keeping the faith: With missionary work banned, Mormons in Russia 'Just making friends' Russia: Over a hundred believers of several faiths behind bars By Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers Our World (18.12.2019) - https://bit.ly/2QyzizS - Russia is the only country on the European continent that imprisons people for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of religion. This issue was at the heart of the statement of Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) at Session 7 of the OSCE/ODIHR Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw on 19 September 2019. As of 1 September, HRWF’s Database of Religious Prisoners included 73 documented cases of detention (both pretrial and post-conviction) in Russia: 62 Jehovah’s Witnesses, 2 Mormons, 2 Scientologists, 5 followers of Said Nursi, 1 Tabligh Jamaat Muslim and 1 Human Rights Without Frontiers FoRB Newsletter | Russia Sunni Muslim in Crimea. A few Jehovah’s Witnesses listed had been released and placed under house arrest, but the criminal charges against them were maintained. According to the statement of the Crimean Human Rights Group at the OSCE/ODIHR, 36 Tatar Muslims were accused of religious extremism and terrorism, and subsequently deprived of their freedom. Followers of the late Turkish theologian Said Nursi are serving prison terms ranging from three to eight years for being involved in a banned organization. One Tabligh Jamaat Muslim was arrested in 2017 for missionary activities and sentenced to four years in prison. In March, two American Mormons were arrested and imprisoned for three weeks for allegedly carrying out missionary activities before being expelled from the country. In 2017, five Scientologists were arrested for allegedly “participating in an extremist organization, inciting hatred and enmity, and violating human dignity” (Criminal Code Article 171 and Articles 282 and 282.1). Two years later, two of them were still in pre- trial detention. On the same day as the OSCE/ ODIHR session devoted to freedom of religion or belief, six Jehovah’s Witnesses from Saratov, whose movement was banned in 2017, were convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to three years and six months for allegedly organizing activities of an extremist organization. Additionally, they were all banned from holding leadership positions in public organizations for a period of five years and restriction of freedom for one year. On 6 February 2019, Dennis Christensen, a Danish citizen living in Russia who was in pre-trial detention since 2017, was the first Jehovah’s Witness in post-Soviet Russia to be sentenced for exercising his right to freedom of religion. He was condemned to 6 years in a labor camp for his alleged role – denied by himself and his congregation – in leading the local Jehovah’s Witness branch in Oryol. His sentence was upheld by an appeals court three months later. Russia is the only European country where peaceful believers are treated as criminals for reading their religious books in private, meeting for prayer and worship at home, teaching their faith to their children and sharing their beliefs with others. As of 23 September 2019, · 252 Jehovah’s Witnesses ranging from 20 to 85 years old were facing criminal charges · 42 were in detention (pretrial or prison) · 23 were under house arrest Concerns about human rights violations resulting from the Russian Supreme Court Ruling that banned Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2017 have been raised by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Union. The Government of the Russian Federation denies any human rights abuses, but their response lacks credibility. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia are being massively arrested, detained in pre-trial detention and prosecuted because of their beliefs. The EU has been very active in the defense of religious freedom in Russia, in particular concerning: the arrest and imprisonment of Dennis Christensen, the ban of the movement of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the confiscation of all property belonging to 395 of Human Rights Without Frontiers FoRB Newsletter | Russia Jehovah’s Witness congregations and the deprivation of the rights of 177,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses to practice their religion. At the OSCE/ODIHR conference, the EU representative reemphasised the EU’s commitment to support freedom of religion or belief, stating: “The EU focuses on the right of individuals, to believe or not to believe, and, alone or in community with others,