Jehovah’s Witnesses Banned in Russia

Emily B. Baran

The Ban 

In April 2017 the Russian Supreme Court formally designated the Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist” organization. This ruling upheld an earlier determination by the Ministry of Justice. The Supreme Court’s decision has immediate consequences for the Witnesses’ ability to operate within Russia’s borders. It sanctions the “liquidation” of the Witnesses’ administrative center outside Saint Petersburg and the confiscation of its property by the government. The Witnesses’ 395 registered local branches also will be liquidated.1 The Witnesses are currently appealing the decision, and will almost certainly submit a further appeal with the European Court of Human Rights. 

At the individual level, the Supreme Court decision will have serious repercussions for the roughly 170,000 Witnesses across more than 2,000 congregations in Russia.2 The ban effectively criminalizes activities that Witnesses consider necessary to maintain their faith, in particular the evangelism of their beliefs to others through door-to-door ministry. From the Russian state’s perspective, this would be akin to recruiting new members to join ISIS. The Witnesses will also be unable to print, import, or distribute their religious literature. Their congregations can no longer rent or purchase property, making it impossible to conduct regular services within a Kingdom Hall, the Witnesses’ equivalent of a church. 

 The Backlash

The decision has garnered considerable backlash from foreign and domestic observers and critics of the Putin administration. Longtime human rights activist Liudmila Alekseeva condemned it as “not simply a mistake, but a crime.”3 The Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists released a statement calling on Putin to respect freedom of conscience and not take action against the Witnesses.4 Aleksandr Semchenko, President of the Union of Evangelical Christian Churches in Russia, echoed these remarks, noting the threat the ban poses to other religious minorities.5 The United States, the United Kingdom, and other foreign governments and institutions have likewise expressed their deep concerns. Acting State Department spokesman Mark C. Toner commented, “The United States is extremely concerned by the Russian government’s actions targeting and repressing members of religious minorities, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, under the pretense of combating extremism.”6

Part of a Trend

More broadly, the ban makes clear that the post-Soviet honeymoon period for freedom of conscience is over in Russia. Arguably, this has already been true for quite some time. The early 1990s saw rapid growth in religious organizations, but also fierce competition for converts among the faith communities. Evangelizing religions came in for particularly heavy scrutiny from the Russian Orthodox Church, which resented the influx of missionaries and western dollars. A new religious law in 1997 instituted greater restrictions on religious communities and diminished the standing of more marginal faiths. The Jehovah’s Witnesses felt much of the brunt of this more hostile environment. In the wake of the 1997 law, they faced legal challenges in the courts, and found it increasingly difficult to register their congregations, rent or purchase facilities for worship, and conduct door-to-door evangelism.7

“Anti-Extremist” and “Anti-Terrorist” Legislation

Ultimately, however, it was not the 1997 law, but rather, anti-terrorism legislation that resulted in the current ban. The 2002 Russian law, “On Combating Extremist Activity,” passed in the wake of domestic terrorism, gave the state broad powers to criminalize “extremist” organizations. The law includes a set of extremist activities that are vague enough to encompass most religions. Indeed, encouraging religious discord and declaring that one faith is superior to another is now enough to be considered extremist, according to this legislation. The state also created an official list of extremist publications, whose importation and circulation was thereafter legally banned.8

In the subsequent decade, “extremism” became the byword for local and regional officials who wanted to bar Witness activity. Since the law’s implementation, several Witnesses have faced criminal trials for allegedly advocating extremist beliefs and for distributing extremist literature.9 In Taganrog, the courts declared the entire organization extremist, and revoked its legal status. Police then infiltrated the congregation and set up hidden cameras in a sting operation to catch them using banned materials. After a lengthy investigation and two rounds of trials, 16 members of the congregation were convicted. While the court handed down prison time and hefty fines, it suspended the sentences. One of the Taganrog men, Nikolai Trotsiuk, had already served time in the Soviet period for refusing to serve in the military.

He told the Washington Post that in Russia, “It was calm until everything turned around, and they started treating us again like they did during the Soviet Union.”10 

Mixed Signals

The federal government’s involvement in or approval of such local initiatives was initially ambiguous. In 2015 Geraldine Fagan noted that the impetus for anti-Witness actions was “coming from the ground up.”11 Moreover, the law received some pushback from international religious communities. Most notably, in Tomsk an attempt by the courts to declare a Hare Krishna version of the Bhagavad Gita an extremist text earned international outcry, and it was ultimately abandoned. Perhaps sensing the possibility for local overreach, the Russian parliament barred courts from using the law to declare the Bible, Koran, Tanakh, or Kangyur to be extremist texts in 2015.12 That same year, the Ministry of Justice overruled a Moscow court decision from 2004 that had revoked the Witnesses’ registration in the city, restoring their legal status after a lengthy court battle.13 At the same time, lower court decisions that labeled various Witness publications “extremist” remained unchallenged. As a result, over 80 publications by the Witnesses ended up on the federal list of extremist materials.14

Stronger Measures against Jehovah’s Witnesses 

In the past year, however, federal support for anti-extremism actions against Witnesses became increasingly clear. The General Prosecutor issued a formal warning to the Witnesses’ administrative center to stop further extremist activity, a first step in taking more serious action. Kingdom Halls across Russia were subsequently raided to search for extremist publications. Declaring that the Witnesses had violated the warning to stop circulating banned literature, the Ministry of Justice filed a motion with the Supreme Court to declare the organization “extremist” and liquidate its operations. This culminated in the recent ban at the federal level. 

In the weeks following the decision, signs indicated that the ban created a more hostile environment for individual Jehovah’s Witnesses. Draft boards have cited the ruling in denying young men access to alternative service, a right granted to Witnesses in recent years.15 A trial in Sergeev Posad against two Jehovah’s Witnesses for extremism that predated the decision, may now be given new life.16 In one village, police arrested a local Witness for allegedly distributing religious literature.17 Other Witnesses have reported having their bank accounts frozen, and their Kingdom Halls vandalized. In one disturbing incident, the home of Witnesses was burnt down in an act of arson. Some Witnesses, including the arson victims, have begun to explore the possibility of emigration abroad.18 It is hard to quantify the exact impact of the ban, since harassment by citizens and local officials existed prior to the ban, but it cannot but embolden those inclined to view Witnesses with suspicion.

Orthodox Alignment with State Measures

In that vein, representatives within the Russian Orthodox Church have adopted a less than sympathetic stance toward the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ plight. In a television interview, Metropolitan Ilarion described the Witnesses as a “totalitarian sect,” and noted that while the church was not involved in the court ruling, he “welcomed” the decision. A Moscow Patriarchate website urged congregants to contact it with any information about Witness activity in their community.19 These statements should not be taken to reflect the entire Orthodox community, but they do suggest that at least some individuals within the dominant religious tradition have greeted the ban with approval, if not enthusiasm. 

It remains to be seen what this means for religious pluralism in Russia, and whether similar actions will be taken against other religious minorities. Certainly the Supreme Court has set a troubling precedent that leaves other communities vulnerable to liquidation. In the meantime, Witnesses have the daunting task of adjusting to an entirely underground existence. Decades of Soviet persecution may make them well-equipped to navigate these challenges. Moreover, they are less isolated from their fellow believers abroad than they were in decades past, thanks to both technology and more open borders. Even so, the ban will still mean a much more precarious situation for Witnesses in Russia. 

Notes 

1. Decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in case #AKPI17-238 on 20 April 2017. Document provided by the Worldwide Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses through their Office of Public Information.
2. 2017 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 2016). 
3. For responses from Alekseeva and others, see the detailed report by Victoria Arnold, “Jehovah’s Witnesses Banned, Property Confiscated,” Forum 18 News Service, 20 April 2017; http://www.forum18. org/archive.php?article_id=2274.
4.  Union Chairman A. V. Smirnov penned an open letter on 5 April 2017, prior to the final decision. Portal-Credo.ru; http://www.portal-credo.ru/ site/?act=news&id=125170.
5. Aleksandr Semchenko was interviewed by Vladimir Oivin about the Witness situation on 
6. April 2017. Portal-Credo.ru; http://www.portal-credo.ru/ site/?act=news&id=125187. 6 Curt Mills, “State Dept. Condemns Russian Religious Clampdown,” US News & World Report, 21 April 2017; https://www.usnews.com/news/world/ articles/2017-04-21/state-department-condemnsrussian-clampdown-on-jehovahs-witnesses.
7.  For a history of Russian and Soviet Witnesses, see Emily B. Baran, Dissent on the Margins (Oxford University Press, 2014).
8. Alexander Verkhovsky, “Russian Approaches to Radicalism and ‘Extremism’ as Applied to Nationalism and Religion” in Russia and Islam: State, Society, and Radicalism, ed. by Roland Dannreuther and Luke March (Routledge, 2010), 33-35.
9. Felix Corley, “One ‘Extremism’ Criminal Trial Ends, Others Continue,” Forum 18 News Service, 5 March 2012; http://www.forum18.org/archive. php?article_id=1675.
10.  Andrew Roth, “Broad Russian Laws Targeting Religious ‘Extremists’ Used Against Pacifist Sect,” Washington Post, 23 November 2015; https:// www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/sixteenjehovahs- witnesses-may-be-russias-most-pacifistextremists/2015/11/20/6e046610-8898-11e5-bd91- d385b244482f_story.html?utm_term=.cdb4188df4fe. 
11. Ibid. 
12.  “Misuse of Anti-Extremism in November 2015,” Sova Center, 17 December 2015; http://www.sovacenter.ru/en/misuse/news-releases/2015/12/d33482/.
13. “Russia Targets Jehovah’s Witnesses with AntiExtremist Legislation, Reports UN Human Rights Committee,” Official Website of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, 30 March 2016; https://www.jw.org/en/ news/releases/by-region/russia/un-human-rightsreports-jw-targeted/.
14. This statistic was supplied by the Worldwide Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses through their Office of Public Information.
15. “Russian Supreme Court’s Decision about ‘Extremism’ Threatens Right of Conscientious Objection,” Human Rights Without Frontiers, 5 May 2017; http://hrwf.eu/russia-supreme-courts-decisionabout-extremism-threatens-right-of-conscientiousobjection/. 
16. Victoria Arnold, “Russia: Further Arrest for Muslim Study Groups,” Forum 18 News Service, 12 May 2017; http://forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2279.
17.  “V Orlovskoi oblasti Svidetelia legovy obviniaiut v nezakonnom missionerstve,” Sova Center, 18 May 2017; http://www.sova-center.ru/religion/news/ harrassment/intervention/2017/05/d37079/.
18. Jason La Miere, “Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia Have House Burned Down, Worship Halls Liquidated While Preparing Ban Appeal,” Newsweek, 17 May 2017; http://www.newsweek.com/jehovahs-witnessesrussia-ban-cour-611138.
19. “Tropami Agitpropa,” Religio Polis, 5 May 2017; http://religiopolis.org/publications/11463-troppjvoinstvuyushchikh-bezbozhnikov.html

Emily B. Baran is Assistant Professor of History, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Her book, Dissent on the Margins: How Soviet Jehovah’s Witnesses Defied Communism and Lived to Preach About It (Oxford University Press, 2014), is now available in paperback.