The leader of the “Zero” group Fyodor Chistyakov left Russia due to the ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses

The leader of the “Zero” group, Fyodor Chistyakov, left Russia due to the ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses. Novaya Gazeta reports this.

The musician, who is a member of the organization, said that he decided not to return to Russia during a concert tour in the United States. According to him, he had not planned to leave the country before.

I’ve settled firmly in place, I’m already fifty, where should I go? Besides, right now everything is going very well, as a musician I’m on the rise: a good band, an established touring system, albums coming out one after another. And so we flew on tour to the USA. And the day before, a trial took place, which resulted in the banning of the Witnesses. It was a shock for me. The likelihood that I would not return from the American tour began to increase greatly. And on July 17, when the appeal was rejected, I made the final decision

- said Chistyakov.

He explained that due to the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses, he lost the right to openly practice his religion, noting that this “is a trauma in itself, even if you are not imprisoned, but there are already imprisonments.”

On April 20, the Supreme Court recognized Jehovah's Witnesses as an extremist organization, liquidated it and banned its activities in Russia. On July 17, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal and declared the liquidation of the organization legal.