Representatives of Russian human rights organizations issued a statement in defense of Jehovah's Witnesses

June 19, 2018 representatives of Russian human rights organizations issued a collective statement demanding an end to persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for their religious activities, release from custody of believers accused under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization activities of or participation in an extremist organization), and cancel, using the available procedural possibilities, the decision of the Supreme Court of 20 April 2017 on the liquidation and prohibition of the activities of organizations of Witnesses Jehovah. We present the text of the open letter and the signatures collected under it.

Actually it happens to us

150 thousand of our fellow citizens, peaceful and honest people, are now outside the law. At any moment each of them can be arrested and sentenced to imprisonment. These people did not kill, did not rape, did not steal and did not commit fanaticism. They, like more than 8 million of their fellows in the world study and preach the Bible, and trying to live by it. Now they are being thrown into jail. Their fault is that they Jehovah witnesses.

Each of them can become a political prisoner today.

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Over a year ago, 20 April 2017, religious freedom in Russia put an end to - the Supreme The court of the Russian Federation recognized all 396 organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist and banned their activities for the fact that in their publications the Witnesses put their religion above others.

In the story of how man found answers from Jehovah's Witnesses to questions he could not solve a Catholic priest, the courts saw propaganda of religious superiority, — that's all extremism. Such "extremism", and much more brutal, may be found in doctrinal, liturgical and other texts of most denominations. If we approach religious scriptures with the same yardstick, everything will have to be banned. religion.

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Further earned mechanism, meaningless and soulless.

law enforcement agencies, conducting round-ups and detentions, and courts, authorizing searches in the homes of Witnesses and detaining them, they refer to the decision of the Supreme Court on the unconditional prohibition of the activities of this religious organization. The Supreme Court, banning the Witnesses, referred to the decisions of the district courts on the recognition of the texts as extremist. The district courts relied on expert opinions. Working for the FSB and the "E" centers experts are able to detect "signs of extremism" even in the borscht recipe.

As a result, circular irresponsibility authorities led to a police operation deployed from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka against innocent law-abiding citizens. This special operation is carried out, in fact, on the basis of several custom-made examinations.

The logic is simple: if Jehovah's Witnesses are extremists, they should go to jail. Participation in activities extremist organization is punishable by up to 6 years in prison, and "an organization activities of an extremist organization” – up to 10 years. As of June 15, 2018 20 Witnesses were taken into custody by the courts. This is a disgrace to Russian justice.

All over the world Jehovah's Witnesses practice their religion openly and freely. They are prohibited in China, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and now in Russia. Our country was included in this list, in fact, by its The Supreme Court, and this is an even greater shame for a country that is a member of the Council of Europe.

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Jehovah's Witnesses are not once confirmed the strength of their faith and during the worst trials in the Nazi and Soviet camps. They were banned in Nazi Germany and in the USSR. Suffice it to recall the mass resettlement of followers of this religion in 1951 year, when in two days thousands of families were deprived of their homes and property, immersed in freight wagons and exported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. And have been completely restored. in rights immediately after the fall of totalitarian regimes. According to the current Law of the Russian Federation "On rehabilitation of victims of political repressions” Jehovah’s Witnesses are recognized as “victims arbitrariness of a totalitarian state.

One of the foundations creeds of Jehovah's Witnesses - non-resistance to evil by violence. Although formally The Supreme Court banned Jehovah's Witnesses not for anti-militarism (after all, the right to refusal of military service, including on the basis of religious beliefs, is enshrined in Constitution), one of the main reasons for the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses is their absolute pacifism, categorical non-participation in violence.

This denomination really nothing to show, since there was nothing worse than bad reviews about priests. In the USSR, this "especially dangerous anti-Soviet sect" was accused of refusing to serve in the army, to participate in elections, joining trade unions and signing petitions "in defense of peace". But today Witnesses pass instead of a valid military alternative civilian service, and the rest is voluntary. Obsolete and denial charge from a blood transfusion, especially when the refusal relates to a child: lead Russian hematologist Academician A.I. Vorobyov supported the position of the Witnesses about use of blood substitutes instead of donated blood.

Today the fear "the totalitarian sect of Jehovah's Witnesses" is created by direct forgery and juggling, such as blacklisting "bad religions" with a common list of their crimes, so that Jehovah's Witnesses have to answer for other people's sins, real or imaginary.

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What happens to them essentially what is happening to us: it is a test of the immune forces of society. persecution Jehovah's Witnesses show the failure of the anti-extremist legislation in general. If society does not protect Jehovah's Witnesses, if they will not be reinstated, this will mean that the extremist may be announced each.

List of contained in custody of the accused under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code, who were actually brought to responsibility for practicing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses (as of 19 June 2018):

1. Dennis Christensen (Oryol region) HRC "Memorial" recognized as a political prisoner

2. Anatoly Vilitkevich (Bashkiria) Political prisoner under the name of "Memorial" PC

3. Roman Markin (Murmansk region)

4. Viktor Trofimov (Murmansk region)

5. Valentin Osadchuk (Primorsky kr.)

6. Vladimir Kochnev (Orenburg region).

7. Alexander Suvorov (Orenburg region).

8. Dmitry Mikhailov (Ivanovo region)

9. Ilham Karimov (Tatarstan)

10. Vladimir Myakushin (Tatarstan)

11. Constantine Matrashov (Tatarstan)

12. Aidar Yulmetyev (Tatarstan)

13. Ivan Puida (Khabarovsk region)

14. Konstantin Petrov (Magadan region)

15. Evgeny Zyablov (Magadan region)

16. Sergey Yerkin (Magadan region)

17. Sergey Klimov (Tomsk region)

18. Sergey Skrynnikov (Oryol region)

19. Unknown believer (Tatarstan)

20. Unknown believer (Tatarstan)

21. Konstantin Bazhenov (Saratov region)

22. Alexey Budenchuk (Saratov region)

23. Felix Makhammadiev (Saratov region)

We call and demand:

stop persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for their religion;

immediately release from custody Jehovah's Witnesses accused under article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (organization of activities of an extremist organization or participation in it), in fact, for the profession of one's religion;

cancel using available procedural possibilities, decision of the Supreme Court of April 20, 2017 of the year on the liquidation and prohibition of the activities of organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses.

June 19, 2018

Lyudmila Alekseeva, Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Boris Altshuler, physicist and human rights activist, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group

*Valery Borshchev, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group *

*Alexander Verkhovsky, member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society and human rights. Director of the Information and Analytical Center "Sova" *

*Svetlana Gannushkina, Civic Assistance Committee, Member of the Board of Memorial *

*Valentine Gefter, Institute of Human Rights *

Alexander Daniel, historian, Memorial

Yuri Dzhibladze, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights

Sergey Krivenko, member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society and human rights, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group

a lion Levinson, Institute of Human Rights Sergey Lukashevsky, director of the Sakharov Center, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Oleg Orlov, Member of the Board of the Memorial Human Rights Center

Yan Rachinsky, Chairman of the Board of the International Society "Memorial"

Lev Ponomarev, Executive Director of the All-Russian Movement "For the Rights human", member of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Yuri Savenko, President of the Independent Psychiatric Association of Russia Natalya Taubina, Director of the Public Verdict Foundation

Alexander Cherkasov, Chairman of the Board of the Human Rights Center "Memorial" Pavel Chikov, International Human Rights Group "Agora"

Vitaliy Adamenko, Amnesty International, Beyond Violence Library. Samara - St. Petersburg

German Alyotkin, Chairman of the RPOO of the parents of conscripts of Tatarstan "For sons"

Dmitry Aleshkovsky, media manager, philanthropist, journalist

Lyudmila Alpern, human rights activist

Max Armay, writer, poet

Evgeny Ass, architect, rector of the MARCH Moscow School of Architecture

Svetlana Astrakhantseva, Moscow Helsinki Group, Executive Director

Alexey Akhutin

Andrey Babushkin, Chairman of the Committee for Civil Rights

Vyacheslav Bakhmin, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Sergey Belyaev, NGO "Sutyazhnik", Yekaterinburg

Alexander Bekhtold, Executive Director of RRO OOD "For Human Rights", Ryazan

Andrei Blinushov, historian, chairman of the Ryazan "Memorial"

Marina Boroditskaya, writer

Georgy Borodyansky, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta-Western Siberia Omsk

Sergei Buryanov, Institute for Freedom of Conscience

Larisa Weisfeld

Vera Vasilyeva - editor, host of the Radio Liberty project

Grigory Vinter, head of the Vologda branch "For Human Rights"

Vladimir Volkov, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, Vladimir

Elena Volkova, culturologist

Amina Gasanova, translator

Vyacheslav Gerko, pensioner, Pyatigorsk

Yakov Gilinsky, Doctor of Law, Professor

Irina Glushkova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Orientalist

Olga Gnezdilova, lawyer

Leonid Gozman, politician

Vladimir Grabkov, Sakhalin branch of the Movement "For Human Rights"

Lev Gudkov, sociologist

Alexander Guryanov, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Scientific-Information and Educational Center "Memorial"

Natalya Guseva, coordinator of the Chelyabinsk regional branch of the "Voice" Movement

Sergei Davidis, Head of the Program for the Support of Political Prisoners of the HRC "Memorial"

Natalia Dzyadko, Director of the Center for the Promotion of Criminal Justice Reform

Natalia Demina, science journalist

Lev Deltsov, Chairman of the Saratov Branch of the Memorial Society

Nikolai Diko, President of the International Foundation for Humanitarian Initiatives, Coordinator of the International Committee of Civic Diplomacy

Sergey Dmitriev, Art. Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor at the Russian State Humanitarian University, Leading Researcher at the ISAA MSU

Natalia Evdokimova, member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society and human rights

Galina Elshevskaya, art critic

Polina Zherebtsova, documentary writer, author of Chechen diaries

Mikhail Zherebyatiev, religious scholar

Evgeny Zinich, Krasnoyarsk

Andrey Zbarsky, editor

Olga Zimenkova, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group

Anara Ibrayeva, OO "Kadir-Phytt", Astana, Kazakhstan

Andrei Kalikh, freelance journalist

Igor Karlinsky, legal consultant, St. Petersburg

Pavel Kataev, writer

Tatyana Kasyanova, physician, volunteer of the project "Tales and Stories for Political Prisoners"

Alexey Kasyanov, programmer

Irina Kizilova, freelance journalist, Perm

Sergei Kovalev, former political prisoner 1974-1984, member of the board of the Sakharov Center, member of the board of the Memorial Society, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation 1994-1995.

Oleg Kozyrev, journalist, IT expert

Alexey Kondaurov, politician, major general

Tatiana Kopach, Minsk

Tatyana Kotlyar, Chairman of the Council of the Kaluga Regional Public Movement "For Human Rights", Obninsk

Igor Kochetkov, human rights activist, director of the Sphere Charitable Foundation

Lyudmila Kolesnikova, Doctor of Economics

Maria Kravchenko, Information and Analytical Center "Sova", Moscow

Irina Kraineva, Researcher, Novosibirsk

Dmitry Krayukhin, editor-in-chief of IA "CentrRus"

Sergey Kryzhov. First Commissioner for Human Rights in the Moscow Region

Nikita Kuznetsov, translator

Mark Kuperman, Sakhalin branch of the Movement "For Human Rights"

Mikhail Lavrenov, writer, political scientist, publicist

Sergey Lebedev, journalist, writer

Irina Levinskaya, historian, member of the St. Petersburg PEN Club

Arseniy Levinson, lawyer of the Human Rights Initiative "Citizen and Army"

Aina Lyubarova, translator

Natalya Mavlevich, translator

Dmitry Madera, biologist, Moscow

Olga Mazurova, doctor

Elena Makei, Ekaterinburg Society "Memorial"

Daria Maslenikova, human rights activist

Kiril Melamud, translator

Julia Mikhailova, Derbent

Valery Mikhailov, doctor, Krasnoyarsk

Olga Moiseenko, manager, Chelyabinsk

Elizaveta Morozova, artist

Lyubov Moseeva-Elye, head of the Kaluga branch of the Resource Center for the Elderly, member of the international network AgeNet International

Oleg Motkov, Associate Professor, Institute of Psychology, Russian State University for the Humanities

Nelli Muminova, documentarian

Maria Nadyarnykh, philologist, senior researcher IMLI RAS

Alexander Nikitin, Chairman of the Saratov human rights center "Solidarity"

Leonid Nikitinsky, journalist

Yaroslav Nikitenko, scientist

Anna Ozhiganova, anthropologist, researcher at the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Sergey Okhotin, head of the Kemerovo branch of "For Human Rights"

Dmitry Panchenko, historian and philologist

Anatoly Papp, Public Verdict Foundation

Anna Pastukhova, coordinator of the Ural Memorial

Maxim Pervunin, lawyer

Marina Petrushina, Researcher at the University of Communications, Irkutsk

Andrey Piontkovsky, publicist

Alexander Polyakov, publicist

Ella Polyakova, Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg

Roman Polyantsev, Izhevsk

Nikolai Podosokorsky, literary critic, Veliky Novgorod

Valeria Prikhodkina, Chelyabinsk branch "For Human Rights"

Pavel Protsenko, writer

Lev Prygunov, People's Artist of Russia

Andrey Pugovkin, Doctor of Biological Sciences, member of the Union of Journalists of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region

Andrey Rashevsky, lawyer

Timur Rakhmatulin, head of the Orenburg branch of the NGO "Committee against Torture"

Vladimir Richter, pensioner, Kaliningrad

Tatyana Rudakova, ex-chairman of the NGO "Mothers in defense of the rights of detainees, those under investigation and convicts" Krasnodar

Vladimir Ryakhovsky, member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society and human rights

Igor Sazhin, Chairman of the Komi branch of the Russian Memorial

Yuri Samodurov, human rights activist

Mikhail Sergeev, religious scholar

Alexey Simonov, President of the Glasnost Defense Foundation

Tatyana Sichkareva, St. Petersburg

Nikita Sokolov, Chairman of the Board of the Free Historical Society

Alexander Sokolov, Moscow Memorial

Boris Sokolov, historian, writer

Oleksandr Soldatov, editor-in-chief of Portal-Credo.Ru, correspondent of Novaya Gazeta, member of the Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies

Stanislav Stanskikh, constitutionalist

Mikhail Tikhonov, Moscow

Igor Toporkov, human rights activist, member of the movement "For Human Rights", chairman of the regional branch of the UDM "Solidarity", Ulyanovsk

Olga Trusevich, "Memorial"

Mikhail Tumasov, Chairman of the IPM Russian LGBT Network

Ludmila Ulitskaya, writer

Ashraf Fattakhov, lawyer

Emma Feldstein, head of the regional public organization "Dzerzhinsky Human Rights Center of the Nizhny Novgorod Region"

Sergey Filatov, President of the Foundation for Socio-Economic and Intellectual Programs, Chairman of the Moscow Union of Writers

Alina Khannanova, Ufa

Eduard Kharkovsky, engineer, member of the Congress of Intelligentsia

Marianna Khanukova, member of the Yabloko party, St. Petersburg

Maria Khotina, volunteer of the project "Tales for Political Prisoners"

Alexey Tsvetkov (senior), poet

Anton Chivchalov, translator, blogger

Valentina Sharipova, Memorial Tver

Elena Shakhova, Chairman of the St. Petersburg public human rights organization "Civil Control"

Viktor Sheiko, Art. n. With. Sakhalin Branch of the Botanical Garden-Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Chairman of the Sakhalin Branch "For Human Rights"

Viktor Sheinis, Member of the Political Committee of the Yabloko Party, Moscow

Ilya Epelbaum, artist and director

Elena Efros, coordinator of the project "Tales for political prisoners"

Victor Yukechev, Director of the Institute for the Development of the Press-Siberia

Andrey Yurov, international human rights activist, member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society and human rights

Ksenia Yasnova, Moscow

Sources

• Human rights activists demand an end to persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses for their religion // Website of the Moscow Helsinki Group. 2018. June 19.
• Actually it happens to us // Post on Lev Levinson's Facebook page. 2018. June 19.