For Immediate Release
February 12, 2001
(Russian)

Moscow court expert demands censorship

MOSCOW, RUSSIA—M. M. Gromyko, the first of four court-appointed religious and linguistic experts to testify, defended her support of a ban on Jehovah's Witnesses. Today she proclaimed in the Golovinsky Court that Jehovah's Witnesses have no right to criticize the traditional beliefs of Orthodox Christians in Russia.

"This amounts to a call for censorship of religious minorities," said Artur Leontyev, lawyer for the defense, adding, "She even suggested that Tolstoy be censored for his comments against Orthodoxy."

Gromyko, head scientific adviser for the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and also a member of the Orthodox Church, argued that Jehovah's Witnesses' criticisms of traditional beliefs pose a potential for social unrest, but she could not cite a single example of where this has occurred.

Gromyko acknowledged that the expert conclusion is based on a selective gleaning of the publications of Jehovah's Witnesses. She admitted that the panel members had chosen not to comment on positive printed statements that encourage tolerance toward all people regardless of their religious convictions.

Galina Krylova, lawyer for the defense, quoted from a Russian Orthodox Church "anti-sect" catechism, which says: "How is it possible to speak about many Christian religions: Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran . . . ? There is only one true Orthodox belief among the large number of all these religions or beliefs, and the others are false. They are fabricated by the Devil and human pride." Krylova then asked: "Does this mean that only religions that represent the majority are allowed to criticize religious beliefs?"

Earlier in the trial, Lyudmila Alekseyeva, president of the International Helsinki Federation and chairperson of the Moscow Helsinki Group, commented: "For many years, [Russian] society allowed only one way of thinking. Now some cannot tolerate it when others think differently."

Three more experts are scheduled to testify tomorrow.

Contacts in Russia: Jaroslav Sivulskii, Mobile Telephone: + (7) 8 902 682 8197
English-speaking, Paul Gillies, Mobile Telephone: + 44 7775 833880
English/Russian-speaking, Albert Polanski, Mobile Telephone: + (7) 8 902 680 1780