Arzamas prosecutor's office changes its mind about banning unregistered group of Jehovah's Witnesses

In the Nizhny Novgorod region, the prosecutor's office, which sought a ban unregistered religious group Jehovah's Witnesses, withdrew the lawsuit. Production terminated on it.

On May 4, 2017, the Arzamas prosecutor's office withdrew the lawsuit to ban an unregistered group of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Proceedings on the suit of the prosecutor's office continued from March 2017. The prosecutor's office sought a ban on operating without registration religious group. According to Assistant Prosecutor Yulia Plakunova, the participants groups believe "in an afterlife and healing without drugs". As evidence she referred to the testimony of one of the believers. When the judge I read his testimony, it turned out that this statement was not there.

The judge invited the representative of the prosecutor's office to present the missing evidence on May 4, but Yu. Plakunova did not come to the meeting that day, but The prosecutor's office filed a waiver of the claim. The court rejected prosecutor's office and terminated the proceedings.

The believers' lawyer Arli Chimirov believes that the refusal of the lawsuit caused by the "desire to save face". In his opinion, the claim should not have reached at all. before the court, since “citizens have the right to exercise their rights to a joint professing a religion without creating a religious group.”

Recall that on April 20, the Supreme Court banned the centralized organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia together with 395 local religious organizations.

Sources

• Arzamas prosecutor's office abandons plans to ban unregistered group of Jehovah's Witnesses // Portal-Credo.ru. May 5, 2017