Moscow - Russia's Supreme Court ruled on
Thursday that Jehovah's Witnesses were an "extremist"
organisation and must disband and hand over all property to the
state, local media said.
The religious grouping confirmed the ruling about its
"liquidation" in Russia.
"We are greatly disappointed by this development and deeply
concerned about how this will affect our religious activity,”
Yaroslav Sivulskiy, a spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses in
Russia, said in emailed comments.
"We will appeal this decision, and we hope that our legal
rights and protections as a peaceful religious group will be
fully restored as soon as possible."
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have 30 days to submit their
appeal for consideration by a three-person panel.
Religious life in Russia is dominated by the Orthodox
Church, which exerts considerable political influence and enjoys
the support of President Vladimir Putin. Some Orthodox scholars
view Jehovah's Witnesses as a 'totalitarian sect'.
Interfax news agency quoted Sergei Cherepanov, a Jehovah's
Witnesses representative, as saying that the group will appeal
to the European Court of Human Rights.
"We will do everything possible," he said.
Russian authorities have put several of the group's
publications on a list of banned extremist literature and
prosecutors have long cast it as an organisation that destroys
families, fosters hatred and threatens lives.
The group, a United States-based Christian denomination
known for its door-to-door preaching and rejection of military
service and blood transfusions, says this description is false.
The religious organisation has expanded around the world and
has about eight million active followers. It has faced court
proceedings in several countries, mostly over its pacifism and
rejection of blood transfusions, but Russia has been most
outspoken in portraying it as an extremist cult.
The ruling was issued after the justice ministry applied for
an order to shut down the group's national headquarters near St
Petersburg.
Its Russian branch, based near St Petersburg, has said a ban
would directly affect around 400 of its groups and have an
impact on all of its 2,277 religious groups in Russia, where it
says it has 175 000 followers.