Print this pageFor Immediate Release
September 14, 2010
(Russian)
Russia challenges landmark ECHR judgment
Government seeks to continue illegal ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—On September 9, 2010, Russia officially challenged the unanimous decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) stating that Russia’s ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses in Moscow is illegal. The Russian government requested that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber. According to the judgment handed down on June 10, 2010, the Russian government “has a legal obligation . . . to put an end to the violation found by the Court and to redress so far as possible the effects.”
The unanimous decision of the ECHR made clear that the liquidation and ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses was in violation of fundamental human rights guaranteed by the European Convention, including freedom of religion and freedom of peaceful association. Reversing the ban on the Witnesses and restoring their status as an officially registered religious association in Moscow would be an important step forward for Russia regarding freedom of worship. However, the Russian government’s request for a rehearing of the matter by the Court’s Grand Chamber delays Russia’s compliance with the Court’s ruling and adds fuel to an already heated environment of religious intolerance against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia.
The Moscow ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses, based on a June 16, 2004, ruling of the Moscow City Court, has been systematically used by officials to justify a campaign of hostility with the aim of banning the Witnesses throughout Russia. Since then, a series of negative court rulings in Russia threaten freedom of worship. In particular, the December 8, 2009, ruling by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation regarding the literature of Jehovah’s Witnesses has led to a dramatic increase in the number and intensity of incidents against Witnesses. There have been arson attacks on their places of worship, physical attacks on individuals, and unwarranted arrests. These and hundreds of other documented acts of religious intolerance, either instigated or condoned by the Russian government, continue unabated.
Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide look to the European Court either to allow the present ruling to stand or to reinforce it by an affirming ruling from the Grand Chamber.
Contacts:
In Belgium: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, telephone +32 2 782 0015
In Russia: Sergey Tarasov, telephone + 7 812 702 2691
In USA: J. R. Brown, telephone +1 718 560 5600