MARCH 3, 2014 | RUSSIA
Expanded Coverage: Attempt to Ban JW.ORG Fails
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—Jehovah’s Witnesses won a
major court victory on January 22, 2014, when an appellate court
reversed a lower court’s ruling that banned jw.org, the official website
of Jehovah’s Witnesses, throughout Russia.
The Tver Regional Court overturned the August 7,
2013, decision of the Tsentralniy District Court. The regional court
determined that the district court was unjustified in banning the
website because Jehovah’s Witnesses, the owners, had not been given an
opportunity to participate in the hearing. The local prosecutor in Tver
brought the case to court because jw.org contained publications that
Russian courts have ruled to be “extremist.” As soon as Jehovah’s
Witnesses learned of the district court’s ruling, they removed these
publications from jw.org in Russia. The Tver Regional Court confirmed
that the Witnesses were in compliance with Russian laws and rescinded
the ban.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are contesting the rulings by
the Russian courts that have declared some of their publications to be
“extremist” and have submitted several applications to the European
Court of Human Rights to reverse these decisions.
Grigory Martynov, a spokesman for Jehovah’s
Witnesses in Russia, states: “We are pleased that the judges saw the
benefits of our website and the reasonableness of our efforts to comply
with Russian court decisions. We will continue to defend the integrity
of our publications and the rights of Russian citizens to benefit fully
from our Bible education work.”
“Witnesses around the world are rejoicing at this
victory,” states J. R. Brown, a spokesman at the Witnesses’ world
headquarters. “Thanks to this legal victory, all citizens of Russia will
continue to have access to this excellent Bible-education website.”
Media Contact(s):
International: J. R. Brown, Office of Public Information, tel. +1 718 560 5000
Russia: Grigory Martynov, tel. +7 812 702 2691
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