Russian Court in Crimea Jails Jehovah's Witness for 6 Years
By: CourthouseNews
This is an atrocity. I don't much care for JW's but I never thought they were threatening just annoying. Extremist? Cult-like, yes, but not extremist. I reserve extremist for cults like Jonestown or Waco.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
June 4, 2020June 4, 2020AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEChristianity, Crimea, Extremism, Russia, sentencing, Ukraine
MOSCOW (AFP) — A court in Russian-annexed Crimea on Thursday sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for organizing an extremist organization, in the latest harsh sentence against the Christian movement.
Crimea's Supreme Court at an appeal hearing sentenced Artyom Gerasimov to six years in a penal colony, the Jehovah's Witnesses religious organization said in a statement, adding that the defense will mount a further appeal against the ruling.
In 2017, Russia listed the group as an extremist organization and it has since issued a series of long sentences against believers including a Danish citizen, Dennis Christensen, who was given a six-year term in February 2019.
Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses, said that Thursday's ruling by the Crimean Supreme Court brought "religious persecution to a new level of cruelty."
"Since the 2017 Russian Supreme Court's ruling that effectively banned Jehovah's Witnesses, this is the first time an appeal has resulted in a more severe punishment," he said in a statement.
Gerasimov was initially fined in March by a court in the Black Sea city of Yalta while another believer who stood trial with him, Sergei Filatov, was jailed for six years.
Investigators said a group of believers held religious services which was classified as extremist activity.
Prosecutors filed an appeal after, asking for Gerasimov to serve a six and a half year term.
© Agence France-Presse
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I want to hear from all the people here on NT that think their religious freedom is in jeopardy.
This is a prime example of religious persecution.
meh, he got caught thumping in a no thumping zone. they knew what they were doing. tough shit
Before stay at home and social distancing, I had two JW's ladies visiting me once a week. We have had some really interesting conversations. They have never pushed religion on me, but have answered some questions about religion I have had all of my life.
Aren't the other prisoners being punished enough?
I was in Moscow and St. Petersburg last year. Given what I learned from the locals and what I observed, Russia still is not a place I would want to live. In spite of the beauty and history, there remains a culture of oppression. The police, for example, look at you with scowls. They seem to be there to support the state and not to protect the people. During our tour of the Kremlin, while unloading from the tour bus one of the tourists was pick pocketed. The place was surrounded by police yet none of them even acknowledged the event even though the tourist ran after the thief and people were shouting. The tour guide told everyone upfront to protect their valuables because the crime is high and nobody will lift a finger to help you. She was proved correct.
Although greatly improved since the demise of the USSR, Russian citizens, it would seem, do not enjoy anything close to the freedoms (including religious) we have here in the USA. When I observe people complaining about persecution simply because their claims are challenged with logic and facts I wonder if they have even the slightest idea of actual persecution.