Russian Court Seizes 123 Properties from Jehovah’s Witnesses, Hands Over to State

A court in Moscow has confiscated 123 real estate properties belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses, according to the capital’s judicial court service. The assets, previously registered under the religious group’s Swedish branch, include 63 residential and commercial properties covering over 11,000 square metres, as well as 60 plots of land spanning 5.6 hectares across Russia.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have faced increasing pressure in Russia, where the Orthodox Church, supported by President Vladimir Putin, holds a dominant position. In 2017, a Russian court designated the group as an “extremist organisation,” a ruling the European Court of Human Rights later deemed unlawful in 2022. This decision has led to numerous arrests of Jehovah’s Witnesses, with over 220 individuals convicted of “extremist activity” and sentenced to prison.

The convictions reportedly stem from covert video recordings by spies who infiltrated the group’s prayer sessions. In one recent case, Oleg Postnikov, 61, was sentenced to six years and two months in Birobidzhan. He stated in his final court address that the FSB (Russian security service) had selected only a few meetings they deemed “extremist,” which he argued demonstrated the group’s ordinary nature and respect for all people.

In another case, Valeriy Tolmazov, 71, Aleksandr Kostyuk, 53, and Maksim Barbazyuk, 43, were each sentenced to six years in Tver. Jarrod Lopes, a spokesperson for the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, highlighted the deep integration of operatives into small, trusting groups, who then provided selectively edited material to investigators.

The actions of the Russian authorities reflect a broader pattern of persecution against Jehovah’s Witnesses, raising concerns about the use of surveillance and legal mechanisms to suppress religious expression. Such measures contrast with the biblical call to seek peace and justice, as seen in Micah 6:8, which urges people to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

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