Authorities announced Tuesday (7) that four members of Jehovah’s Witnesses have been sentenced to six years in prison for “extremism” in Russia, a country where the practice is banned (7).
The Local Investigative Committee said four members were convicted of organizing “extremist” activities between 2017 and 2020, citing “religious rallies and demonstrations” and “distribution of religious publications”.
According to the same source, two of the defendants were sentenced to six and a half years, the other to six years, and the fourth to six years of suspended imprisonment.
Founded by Charles Russell in the United States in the 1870s, Russia banned Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2017 because it saw it as an “extremist” movement.
Since 2017, many of the members have been jailed, including 68 last year.
Russia classifies the US evangelical Christian movement, which was founded in the late 19th century and preaches nonviolence, as a totalitarian sect, and in 2017 designated it as an extremist organization and ordered its dissolution in the country.
source: Noticias
[author_name]
