Since Russia's ban, persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses is 'worse than ever'
Since the Russian Supreme Court labeled Jehovah's Witnesses an "extremist" group, vandals have targeted followers and their banks accounts have been frozen. Stones were thrown at a St. Petersburg assembly hall and someone tried to burn the Moscow home of a Jehovah's Witness to the ground, a church spokesman said.
The ruling seems to have emboldened those who resent and fear the Witnesses, a religious minority that has suffered more than most in President Vladimir Putin's Russia, where the Russian Orthodox Church enjoys the backing of the state and harassment of gays and other marginalized groups has spiked in recent years.
"We were hoping the court would realize that we are not a threat," said Robert Warren, a spokesman for the Witnesses based in their New York world headquarters. "But now the environment is worse than ever."
The court decision, say Jehovah's Witnesses officials and human rights experts, has not been fully enforced. Worship, reports from the country indicate, continues at some of the "Kingdom Halls" that serve Russia's more than 100,000 Witnesses.
Read more: http://www.sltrib.com/home/5307270-155/since-russias-ban-persecution-of-jehovahs (Salt Lake Tribune)
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