Table of Contents Moscow security officers detain members of Tablighi Jamaat extremist cell led by foreign emissaries Chechnya: female employees of state agencies complain about enforcement to work in hijabs Russian Church has built and restored only half of churches existed before revolution Orthodox Church wants expanded teaching of religion in schools Jehovah's Witnesses in Mordovia threatened with abolition Anti-evangelism law used against long established Baptist congregations No discrimination in the repression of religious minorities Border officials stopped entry into Russia of four alleged supporters of “Tablighi Jamaat” Worsening of the religious legislation in Bashkortostan Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations searched for banned religious material Two more active members of Tablighi Jamaat banned in Russia detained in Tatarstan Many meetings raided and evidence planted Why has Aum Shinrikyo been banned in Russia only now? US pastor challenges Russia evangelism ban "Extremism" religious freedom survey, September 2016 Punishments under anti-sharing beliefs changes begin Military court sentences imam to 5 years in prison for justifying terrorism Demolition of the Ukrainian Orthodox church in the Moscow Region Vladimir Putin has declared war on Jehovah's Witnesses An investigation video denies FECRIS vice-president, Alexander Dvorkin's alleged academic titles Video showing police officers planting banned religious literature in a Jehovah's Witnesses place of worship HRWF statement on the legislation about anti-extremism and anti- evangelism at the OSCE/ ODIHR in Warsaw Police harass Pentecostal youth event Anti-evangelism law used against foreigners who speak in church Missionary activities by minority religions under fire Russian court for the first time ‘liquidates’ a local Jewish community Russian Orthodox Church listens to its modern martyr Mormon leaders challenge reports about deported missionaries Four Chechen residents sentenced for setting ziyart on fire Anti-sharing beliefs law first use First case against believer on basis of new law flops Leaving Russia forbidden to Khamzat Chumakov In Makhachkala, law enforcers release detained believers Believers of Salafi mosque detained in Makhachkala Churches to Russia: We’re not leaving Putin signs sharing beliefs, "extremism", punishments National threat to Jehovah's Witnesses to be taken up in court USCIRF condemns enactment of anti-terrorism laws Sharing belief restrictions, increased "extremism" punishments? Eleven new "extremism" criminal trials? Russia’s feud with Scientology leads to arrests Russian Supreme Court bans Jehovah’s Witnesses branch Official position of the national Jehovah's Witnesses center about accusations of extremism Jehovah's Witnesses lose appeal in court Jehovah's Witnesses face possible liquidation Existence of Jehovah's Witnesses under threat in Russia Jehovah's Witness Bible to be "extremist"? Russia’s Supreme Court dismisses complaint filed by Church of Scientology Warning issued to Witnesses’ headquarters in Russia threatens religious freedom In 2015, 89 known individuals and communities prosecuted for religious literature Conscientious objectors denied alternative service Russian Supreme Court refuses to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses branch Eight facing criminal cases, five already under arrest Russian authorities move toward unprecedented shutdown of Witnesses’ national headquarters Mass raids, arrests target followers of Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult in Russian human rights commissioner criticizes increasing violations Enforced liquidation of communities accelerates 14 activists of "Nurcular" detained in Dagestan Campaign against Jehovah's Witnesses in Russian north Russian atheist faces year in jail for denying existence of God during webchat Freedom of religion or belief "extremist" text prosecutions increase Community service order, 31 initial fines in 46 cases for public religious events over 4 months Debate over use of expert analysis of new religious movements Two Jehovah's Witnesses congregations abolished by courts Fraudulent police tactics used against Jehovah's Witnesses Rights advocate summarizes attempts to ban Jehovah's Witnesses Two Said Nursi followers in pre-trial detention Raids, charges, detentions and fines of Muslims continue Russian customs officials seize shipments of Bibles and Bible literature Moscow security officers detain members of Tablighi Jamaat extremist cell led by foreign emissaries Interfax (22.12.2016) - http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=13503 - The Russian Federal Security (FSB) has announced having shut down, in a joint operation with the Interior Ministry supported by National Guard forces, an illegal cell of the Tablighi Jamaat international extremist organization banned in Russia, which operated in the Moscow Region. "The FSB of Russia, jointly with the Interior Ministry and with the assistance of National Guard forces, discontinued the illegal activity of an organized, deeply secretive entity of the international religious organization Tablighi Jamaat as a result of measures carried out in the Moscow region on December 22," a spokesperson for the FSB in Moscow and Moscow Region told Interfax on Thursday. Seven members of the cell, including its leaders, have been detained as part of a criminal inquiry launched by FSB investigators, the spokesperson said. "During searches [officers] seized literature, communication means and electronic data storage devices with progress reports," the FSB said. While leadership of the extremist cell was carried out by foreign emissaries, its operations also involved Russian citizens, according to the FSB. "Members of the Tablighi Jamaat cell operated amid heightened secrecy, disguised from law enforcement agencies. The arrested members of the organization had called on Moscow region Muslims to unite, and got them involved in illegal activity. In the process, they brainwashed their new supporters, studied banned literature and discussed plans to create an Islamic Caliphate on Russian territory," the FSB said. New recruits were sent to training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the FSB said. Chechnya: female employees of state agencies complain about enforcement to work in hijabs Caucasian Knot (17.12.2016) - http://bit.ly/2hL1iQ7 - According to women, working in state institutions of Chechnya, they were obliged to come to work in the garment, completely covering their hair and forehead. The order is spread exclusively in the oral form, said the women. "Earlier, you could just wear scarves and neck-pieces, but now – only hijabs... A few of my girlfriends work in state-funded (budget) organizations; and they warned that would not let to workplaces without hijabs to work will not start," a social activist named Kheda he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Madina, a resident of Grozny, said that on December 13 her friends sent her by the "WhatsApp" an audio appeal of one of the local officials, who ordered bosses to warn their women-employees that they should come to work in hijabs. Residents of the region note the authorities' inconsistencies in relation to hijabs. "Once we are forced to wear them; another time, they find fault with those who wear them; then – cancel; and now they've decided to introduce hijabs again. Hijab is not a part of our national costume. Our girls used to wear large headscarves; some of them – just neckpieces. My acquaintance was detained a few years ago by power agents in Grozny for wearing a hijab, which covered a part of her chin," said a local resident named Zarema. Let us remind you that on December 12, Chechen authorities demanded to bring schoolgirls' dresses into conformity with national traditions. Russian Church has built and restored only half of churches existed before revolution Interfax (14.12.2016) - http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=13483 - About 36,000 churches have been built and restored during the recent hundred years in Russian Orthodox Church, head of the Synodal Department for External Church Relations Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk said. "According to the survived statistics, there were almost 79,000 Orthodox churches in the Russian Empire. Majority of them were destroyed or eliminated in the Soviet times, some of them were left unattended and gradually ruined. In the late 1980s we had 7,000 of working churches from that 79,000," he said on air The Church and the World program on Rossiya 24 TV channel. The metropolitan says that today the Russian Orthodox Church has approximately half of churches it used to have before the revolution. "Unfortunately, many churches are still in ruins. Sometimes when you travel along the Moscow Region you see the churches not touched by restorers. There are unrestored churches even in Moscow," the hierarch said. Orthodox Church wants expanded teaching of religion in schools Interview: Roman Lunkin, President of the Russian guild of experts on religion and law Portal Credo/ Russia Religion News (14.12.2016) - http://bit.ly/2if7LUn - Portal- credo.ru: Roman, how do you assess the new joint attempt of the Department of Religious Education of the Moscow patriarchate and the Russian Academy of Education to introduce into Russian schools a required course of Orthodox culture, an attempt which it seems has so far failed? Roman Lunkin: It is necessary to speak more precisely about who the initiative is coming from. It has been promoted for a long time already by the RPTsMP and there was a whole