The Ministry of Justice, United Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church and the ban of Jehovah's Witnesses, or Who is behind the organization of the ban on the SI in the Russian Federation? Representatives of a religious organization consider the lawsuit "a big mistake" Such cases were reported in the media.
https: //www.site/2017-04-04/svideteli_iegovy_o_vozmozhnyh_posledstviyah_priznaniya_organizacii_ekstremistskoy
"Everything is being done to eradicate freedom of religion in Russia"
Jehovah's Witnesses - on the possible consequences of recognizing an organization as extremist
Sergey Tantsura
On April 5, the Supreme Court will begin consideration of the case on the suit of the Ministry of Justice, which demands to recognize the extremist religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" as extremist and ban its activities throughout the country. Since March 15, according to the order of the Ministry of Justice, the activities of the organization on the territory of Russia have been suspended. Over the past few years, more than 80 of the organization's publications have been recognized as extremist literature, prohibited from distribution. The Jehovah's Witnesses themselves filed a counterclaim with the Supreme Court demanding that the actions of the ministry be recognized as political repression. The representative of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yekaterinburg Sergey Tantsura and lawyer Yegiazar Chernikov, who represents the interests of the organization in many regions, told the site in an interview how, in their opinion, the state makes criminals out of 175 thousand law-abiding citizens.
- Why do you think it is now, after many years of work of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, that the Ministry of Justice went to court?
Sergey Tantsura: This also raises a lot of questions for us. Until 1991, Jehovah's Witnesses were banned in the former USSR, but in 1991 they received registration and the opportunity to freely practice their religion on the territory of the Russian Federation. And in 1996, according to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Jehovah's Witnesses were recognized as victims of political repression, received the appropriate status and were rehabilitated. In principle, the Jehovah's Witnesses have not changed in any way since then. But the attitude towards them has changed.
- How?
Sergey Tantsura: In 2006, amendments were made to the law on extremism. The wording has become more vague.
- Which ones?
Various changes and additions were introduced related to the very concept of "extremism". For example, Article 1 of Federal Law No. 114 describes such a wide range of manifestations of extremism that practically any public person who has spoken out inadvertently can be brought to justice. For example, it is considered extremism if a person declares the exclusiveness of his faith. But this is a well-known fact that every religion considers itself the only true and exclusive, otherwise it would not be a religion. There is no indication in any religious teaching that its provisions are erroneous. That is, the very fact that Jehovah's Witnesses consider their religion to be exclusive makes them extremists.
- Is this the basis of the claims of the Ministry of Justice against Jehovah's Witnesses?
No. The conclusion of the Ministry of Justice based on the results of the audit is based on previous court decisions. It is about the liquidation of eight local religious organizations. But before deciding to liquidate them, some members of local organizations were brought to administrative responsibility for the storage or distribution of extremist materials.
- What are these materials?
These are magazines that have been translated into many languages for the organization's supporters around the world to read. The materials are the same, but they only raise questions in Russia. But I want to emphasize that attacks on the "Witnesses" especially intensified when Kirill became the patriarch.
- How is he connected with this?
Now the screws are being tightened more and more, everything is being done to eradicate freedom of religion in Russia. After the amendments to the law on extremism, representatives of law enforcement agencies in many regions began to come to church services and literally seize literature with KamAZ trucks, in particular the Watchtower and Awake! Magazines. Then these materials are sent to specialists, as a rule, from among the FSB officers, who, contrary to all scientific data, recognize the publications as extremist, and the court agrees with them. To date, 88 publications have already been recognized as extremist. All this is stored in the warehouses of law enforcement agencies, which simply go to places of worship and plant prohibited literature.
- Was it like that in the Sverdlovsk region?
Sergey Tantsura: Yes, in Nizhny Tagil.
- Have you applied to law enforcement agencies with complaints about this?
Yes. I have participated in trials in many regions and noticed that all trials follow approximately the same pattern. In one day, they drive the whole process through, although we declare at the trial that the publications do not belong to Jehovah's Witnesses, they were planted by operational officers. We have repeatedly offered to conduct an examination, to identify fingerprints on these materials. No court agrees.
- Why, in your opinion, spend so many resources on liquidating your organization?
Sergey Tantsura: We ourselves do not understand.
- But you probably have assumptions about a political or ideological background?
Sergey Tantsura: From a political point of view, Jehovah's Witnesses are neutral, we do not support any of the political structures. And accordingly, there is no political force that would protect our interests. Therefore, we become an easy target. Maksim Shevchenko said that people from the special services are behind the persecutions, who defend the interests of certain Orthodox structures, who think that since they strangled the "Witnesses" during the communist regime, then it is necessary to strangle them now.
- Why do you interfere with the Orthodox so much?
Sergey Tantsura: Jehovah's Witnesses are known for walking from person to person, communicating directly with people, and sharing their beliefs. As we can see, this annoys the Russian Orthodox Church to some extent.
- Why?
Sergey Tantsura: Apparently, the Russian Orthodox Church sees us as their competitors.
- And how many people in Russia are now supporters of Jehovah's Witnesses?
Sergey Tantsura: 175 thousand throughout Russia. In Yekaterinburg - about a thousand, in the Sverdlovsk region (excluding Yekaterinburg) - about 2.5 thousand.
- It's not very much. The ROC has many more supporters. Why, then, do you think you are viewed as a danger?
Sergey Tantsura: A paradoxical situation.
It has always been. If you look into history, you will notice that the ROC, and especially the Moscow Patriarchate, regularly launched campaigns against the Witnesses. They used their connections both among the security forces and among the deputies. The same Shevchenko said that Patriarch Kirill is a native of the KGB. That is, before the "Witnesses" were strangled by the KGB, but they did not suffocate, now the FSB is doing the same.
- From March 15, by the decision of the Ministry of Justice, the activities of the “Administrative Center“ Jehovah's Witnesses ”in Russia” have been suspended. In fact, what does this mean for supporters of the organization in Yekaterinburg or in any other city?
This is actually a tricky question. For example, in the submission of the Ministry of Justice it is said about the inadmissibility of holding rallies, marches and other public actions, but the “Witnesses”, by their convictions, never do this.
- What is the management center?
This is the center, which, according to the charter, coordinates all the activities of the "Witnesses" throughout Russia. But in each region there is a separate legal entity, there are 395 of them in total, taking into account the eight liquidated to date. As stated in the submission of the Ministry of Justice, the restrictions apply only to those legal entities in the regions that were part of the structure of the management center as founders of the media. There are only four such local organizations on the territory of Russia, and the Yekaterinburg LRO does not apply to them. In theory, the rest of the performance should not touch at all. However, a paradoxical situation is developing. The chairman of the committee of the local religious organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" in Yekaterinburg received a submission from the prosecutor's office of the Ordzhonikidze district of the city, which says that on March 24, officers of the supervisory agency discovered that a meeting of deaf believers was being held at the organization's premises on 5 Bauman Street, which, as they considered in the prosecutor's office, is a violation of the Ministry of Justice's submission to suspend activities. Although, formally, the local organization has nothing to do with this document. Moreover, she does not own the premises on Bauman Street, but representatives of a religious group gathered there, which, in turn, formally has nothing to do with the local legal entity.
- What, according to the submission of the district prosecutor's office, should the chairman of the committee of the local organization do?
Eliminate violations of the law. That is, the prosecutor's office binds the local organization in a volitional way to the submission of the Ministry of Justice.
- But in fact, the people who participated in the worship at Bauman are “Jehovah's Witnesses”?
Yes. But the demand of the prosecutor's office is deliberately impracticable. The chairman of a local organization cannot go to the homes of these people and forbid them to gather or hold services. This is already an interference with privacy, which is a criminal offense. When the chairman was handed a paper from the prosecutor's office, he immediately wrote on it: "I consider this presentation illegal and unfounded, as well as made on far-fetched and artificially created grounds." What answer there may still be, I do not know. One thing is clear: the state wants to completely end this organization with a lawsuit against the Jehovah's Witnesses in the Supreme Court.
- From a legal point of view, yes. But how will this affect ordinary people, supporters?
Sergey Tantsura: If the court takes the side of the Ministry of Justice, all 175 thousand supporters of Jehovah's Witnesses will automatically fall into the category of potential criminals. They can be charged with extremism if someone continues to practice their religion after the liquidation of the administrative center. That is, even if the two of us sat down to read the Holy Scripture, then that's all, this is extremism. A peaceful prayer meeting is also extremism. Everything will be very quick and simple: the operatives came - they collected evidence that the divine service continues, and people become criminals, defendants in the case. Depending on the severity, the punishment can be radically different: from a fine (up to 700 thousand rubles) to imprisonment (up to 10 years). The fate of thousands of families, including children, will be crippled. Law-abiding citizens who have never been involved in corruption, terrorist attacks, or other crimes will suffer, but they will become law-breakers overnight.
- Could you tell us more about the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yekaterinburg? Do you own buildings, structures, valuable property?
Sergey Tantsura: As far as I know, the Yekaterinburg MPO does not have any valuable property, buildings, structures.
- Where are the meetings held?
Typically, local religious organizations hold services three times a year: premises are rented and one-day conventions are held for all supporters. But this year, in connection with what is happening, the LRO did not have such. In addition, for religious groups, each of which includes about 100 people, services are held twice a week at Bauman 5. The premises on Bauman are owned by a private person who provides them for events.
- What do Jehovah's Witnesses do apart from worship?
Sergey Tantsura: Each of the Jehovah's Witnesses voluntarily shares their convictions at the behest of Christ.
- How does this happen? Do they go from door to door?
Usually Jehovah's Witnesses walk in twos. They walk down the street or from house to house through apartments, and if people show interest and want to talk, they share their views and beliefs with them. For example, they touch upon the topics: what determines our confidence in the future, how to find confidence and the meaning of life today, what it is based on, how to arrange a happy family life, how to raise children so that they become socially useful members of society.
- How effective is it? Has the number of supporters increased recently?
Sergey Tantsura: For comparison: in 1997 there were only 80 supporters of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yekaterinburg, now there are 1000.
On a global scale, it is the same. In the 90s there were about 6 million, today - more than 8 million.
- How is the organization funded?
Sergey Tantsura: Through voluntary donations.
- Voluntarily forced?
Sergey Tantsura: No. There is no control over how much you donated. There are always two boxes in places of worship: for the local congregation and for the worldwide cause. And each donates a certain amount to the best of his strength and capabilities.
- Who controls expenses?
Sergey Tantsura: Everything is pretty transparent. You need to pay the expenses for using the premises, pay for some stationery. Nobody gets paid. The amount that is collected for a worldwide cause is distributed within the framework of an international organization around the world. Officially, Jehovah's Witnesses exist in 240 countries.
- Sergei, how did you join the Jehovah's Witnesses?
Sergey Tantsura: I met Jehovah's Witnesses in the winter of 1994. I went to my cousin at work and saw the organization's publications that caught my attention.
- What exactly?
Sergey Tantsura: There were very reasonable answers to the question of how life came to be. The publication was very convincing about the folly of Darwin's theory of the origin of life. The biblical position was maintained that the primary source of all living things is God. I noticed how the publications of Jehovah's Witnesses explain issues that worried me very much. For example, why there is so much evil in the world, why God allows suffering, what happens to a person after death. I was interested in the questions, what future awaits people, how to act wisely. Surprisingly, I found answers to these questions in publications. At that time, I attended church, was once at Orthodox Easter.
- Are you baptized?
Sergey Tantsura: No. At that time, I started researching religion. Through the Bible, I got to know the main person in the Universe, with God, whose name is Jehovah. I learned how to get closer to him, I learned how to find friendship with this person. My life has changed significantly, I have given up all bad habits. My life has taken on a real meaning. Later, I met with people from different faiths, and always subjected my views to sound analysis. But I didn’t see a point of view that was better, that would suit me better. I have a happy family, I have a spouse who supports me in everything. My life is full of meaning and contentment.
- If the court's decision is not on the side of Jehovah's Witnesses, will it somehow affect your life principles?
Sergey Tantsura: No. I watch everything that happens with a shudder of my heart. My family, my friends are very worried. But we know that there have been examples of persecution. In Nazi Germany, Jehovah's Witnesses were repressed for their views. Moreover, all their torment could end if they signed only one document, renouncing their beliefs. But they didn't. Both for me and for my loved ones, this is an example to follow.
Suspended the activities of the parent organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The organization, which represents a religious trend that arose in the United States in the 19th century, was included in the list of public and religious associations whose activities were suspended due to their extremist activities. A week ago, the Ministry of Justice sent a corresponding claim to the Supreme Court of Russia.
“The court received an administrative claim from the Ministry of Justice of Russia on recognizing the extremist organization“ The Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia ”and banning its activities on the territory of Russia,” a court spokesman said.
On April 5, the Supreme Court will make a final decision on the organization's work in Russia.
In response, the chairman of the center's steering committee made a video message in which he called the current trial the most difficult time in the life of 175,000 followers of their church.
“They are asking for capital punishment for all three hundred and ninety-six of our organizations! A special point is to confiscate all their houses of prayer and other property from believers! If the Ministry of Justice gets what it wants, believers will face up to 10 years in prison! " - pointed out the religious leader.
In October last year, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were banned in Birobidzhan by a decision of the Jewish Autonomous Region court due to the spread of extremist literature.
“According to the court decision, the Jehovah's Witnesses LRO in Birobidzhan was recognized as extremist, not complying with the requirements of the Federal Law“ On Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations ”, its activities were prohibited on the territory of Russia, it was liquidated with exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities”, - says in the text of the official message.
At the same time, the official representative of the organization noted that the publications included in the list of extremist materials, due to which this decision was made, did not belong to Jehovah's Witnesses.
"Evidence has accumulated that law enforcement officers and persons collaborating with them are systematically planting publications included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials (FSEM) at worship services," the church said in a statement.
Last summer, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court declared the "Witnesses" brochure to be extremist material. The proceedings concerned January 2015, when in one of the shopping centers in the city of Serov, “Witnesses” distributed a brochure entitled “How did life appear?”. In the course of the examinations carried out, experts found that the publication contains statements aimed at inciting hatred and enmity towards other religions. A representative of a religious organization filed an appeal against this decision, but the court left it without consideration.
Employees of the US diplomatic missions often act as defenders of Jehovah's Witnesses. So,
American diplomats expressed concern about the 2015 ban on Witnesses in Taganrog.
The embassy then called on the Russian authorities to stop persecuting religious beliefs, and a spokesman for the American embassy said that in Russia "the state denies the rights of religious minorities."
Jehovah's Witnesses are not the first religious organization whose legality of actions is challenged by the Ministry of Justice. On November 23, 2015, he considered the claim of this ministry to liquidate the Church of Scientology of Moscow and found the organization to be inconsistent with federal legislation. Scientologists were given six months to close. Church followers tried to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court, but the latter confirmed the decision of the Moscow City Court.
- "the servant of God".
And then there is further there the Parable of the Return of the Prodigal Son,
and man is already entering the Degree of Sonship.
Those. here - both Man and Nature - are Adored!
(by the way - this is the function of spreading the Church,
and her missionary work).
"for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world."
While atheists - it logically follows denial
both Nature and Man. And practice has already shown
- the destructive effect of atheism on Nature and on Man.
Because in its essence, atheism is the destructive Heresy of Nihilism,
yet another Heresy is the belief in the existence of "independent matter".
"We will destroy the whole world to the ground, and then,"
We will build world Terror, whoever was nothing will become everything! "
What a vivid illustration of these two Heresies.
They claim to be materialism, and then
we read the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "A GHOST roams Europe",
- belief in terry ghosts and furry phantomas.
And also - "Virkhas parhata fight over us ....", etc.
there are many such things, Whirlwinds, Ghosts, and even Hydras.
On the one hand, the God-Man-Nature system, tested by millennia, is completely rejected, i.e. what is there and it is impossible to delete something without denying this whole system as a whole. Negative hallucination.
And on the other hand, the FAITH is affirmed in something non-existent and hallucable, eternal "independent matter", parhatic Ghosts and terry Fantomas or Whirlwinds. Positive hallucination.
Thus, fans of the heretical sect "building atheism" are forced to constantly hallucinate, either a negative hallucination, or a positive one. Simply put, cunning crooks - from free people, made dependent and unfree labor zombies, or low-paid golems - without freedom of choice. And by the way, in the same place - Human Rights are almost completely rejected and violated, which is very characteristic and obvious, even in itself.
|Ex. in the Church of the Holy Cats - we believe that cats exist!
And anyone - even just a sane person understands
that "A world without cats" is a fiction, a hallucination,
heresy or some already virtual reality,
opposed to the reality around us.
That's the same - and the world without God, or - without Man, or - without Nature,
there is a type - "matrix" for the zombie population of the plundered colonies.
And the cries and slogans of "atheists"
- like "Mi new - a world without cats, let's build ...",
will already be perceived as an obsessively galloping demoniacal
hostilely opposed to the reality around us.
"Hto do not jump, he is - for the cats!" 
Find out - the recent history of our country,
and yet - these sectarians "turned the rivers backwards" and "shifted the time."
It will even be a deviation - from the human norm
- obsessively galloping possessedness,
hostilely opposed
the reality around us.
The result of the activities of these sectans of atheism is lamentable,
Nature suffered greatly, many people,
and even the state itself is from the World Empire,
became - a raw "gas station".
And of course - no "bright future",
and no Prosperity, and no Enlightenment
- all these rogue sectarians did not build that way.
And where did the Marxist methodology go ???
Oh yes - the philosophers were also sent far away
on the "Philosopic parachutes", remember your history.
The point is not even the cats, but the madness and bestiality of the godless man.
In the denial of the very - the human principle, and human rights and freedoms.
The Ministry of Justice has filed an administrative lawsuit with the Supreme Court (SC), in which it asks to recognize the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia (head office) as an extremist organization, prohibit its activities and liquidate it. The agency claims that this religious organization has violated the legislation on countering extremist activities. On March 16, the organization filed an application with the Supreme Court with a request to leave the claim without progress, but the court scheduled a hearing for April 5.
On February 8-27, the Russian Ministry of Justice conducted an unscheduled check of the "compliance of the activities" of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" with the goals and objectives stated in its charter, the press service of the department told Kommersant. Based on the results of the audit, the specialists came to the conclusion that "the organization's activities are carried out in violation of the statutory goals and objectives, as well as the current legislation of the Russian Federation, including the federal law" On Counteracting Extremist Activity "." The exact nature of the violation was not specified. On March 15, the Ministry of Justice filed an administrative lawsuit with the Supreme Court to ban her activities in Russia and liquidate the organization.
The website of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia notes that "millions of believers around the world consider the ministry's actions a big mistake." organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, and will also affect all 2277 religious groups throughout the country, uniting 175 thousand followers of this religion. " The report noted that "extremism is deeply foreign to the Bible-based beliefs and morals of Jehovah's Witnesses."
Ivan Belenko, an employee of the press service of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses, told Kommersant that on March 2, 2016, the organization received a warning from the Prosecutor General's Office about the inadmissibility of extremist activities: “We, of course, knew that it could be fraught with serious consequences, including a lawsuit. The entire array of accusations against believers in extremist activity is reduced to one single fact - the inclusion of several religious publications of Jehovah's Witnesses in the so-called federal list of extremist materials of the Ministry of Justice. " He noted that experts "found extremism", in particular, in the words of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, quoted in magazines, and in the statements of the Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno.
Mr. Belenko recalled that at the moment eight local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses have been liquidated on relevant charges: “And on this basis, the Prosecutor General's Office issued us a warning. We were informed that if this happens again within 12 months, a liquidation claim may be filed.
He noted that an unscheduled inspection by the Ministry of Justice of the administrative center was carried out on behalf of the Prosecutor General's Office.
"Within 12 months, there were 46 cases of planting extremist materials in our church buildings throughout Russia," says Ivan Belenko, a spokesman for the organization.
Ivan Belenko said that the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia has not yet received any official information about the suit of the Ministry of Justice: “We learned about it from the media. Yesterday we filed an application with the Supreme Court with a request to leave this lawsuit motionless due to non-compliance with the rules: the court is already working, and we have not even seen what we are accused of. "
“If the case is not left without movement, then of course we will try to defend ourselves,” he said. “Of course, we will object to the claim, we will insist that we are infinitely far from extremism, and that the justice was denied. Of course, we will fight in the courts until the very end. "
The activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect have been suspended on the territory of Russia in connection with the implementation of extremist activities. the website of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.
The religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" by the order of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated March 15, 2017 No. 320-r "On the suspension of the activities of a religious organization" was added to the list of public and religious organizations whose activities were suspended due to their extremist activities. from site materials.
In fact, this will be the liquidation of not only the Administrative Center, but also all 395 local religious organizations of the sect of Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as the confiscation of all houses of worship belonging to these organizations. Recognize the Administrative Center as an extremist organization and prohibit its activities.
If the Justice Ministry gets its way, any of the 175,000 believers could face up to 10 years in prison simply for confessing their faith.
Earlier, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to ban the organization "Jehovah's Witnesses" in the country after violations of anti-extremist legislation revealed during the audit.
Consideration of the administrative claim of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on recognizing the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" as extremist, banning its activities and liquidating it is scheduled for April 5, 2017.
The Jehovah's Witnesses organization regularly becomes the object of attention of oversight bodies in all regions of Russia, in addition, in a number of regions its activities are prohibited.
Earlier, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized as lawful decisions on the liquidation of territorial offices of Jehovah's Witnesses in Orel, Stary Oskol and Belgorod, Abinsk, Krasnodar Territory, Samara, Birobidzhan and other cities.
Local branches of the organization were repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility for the distribution of extremist materials: in Tyumen, Abinsk, Samara, Saransk, Voronezh, Nizhny Novgorod, Gelendzhik, etc.
Violations
It is known that the adherents of the sect are engaged in the propaganda of the idea aimed at destroying the family, inciting sectarian strife. They also oppose the use of donated blood and military service.
Jehovah's Witnesses ”in their writings and sermons claim that they are better than everyone else. That is, they assert their superiority on a religious basis, as recorded in our definition of extremism. They do not claim that they have kinder people - they just believe correctly, and the rest are wrong. Of course, this can be understood as an assertion of superiority, but this is clearly a broad understanding of extremist activity - although they are far from the only ones to whom it was applied.
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