Russia Jails Jehovah s Witness For Three Years Amid Intensifying Crackdown rferl.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rferl.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Russia s Crackdown On Jehovah s Witnesses Continues, With At Least Seven More Sentenced
June 03, 2021 14:01 GMT
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At least seven Jehovah s Witnesses have been handed prison terms in Russia amid a continuing crackdown on the religious group, which was banned in the country in 2017.
Representatives of Jehovah s Witnesses informed RFE/RL that a court in Russia s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk sentenced Andrei Stupnikov to six years in prison on June 3 after finding him guilty of the organization of activities of an extremist organization.
Stupnikov was arrested three years ago. He was initially kept in a detention center and later transferred to house arrest.
Russian Jehovah s Witness Found Guilty Of Extremism
June 01, 2021 16:38 GMT
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A Jehovah’s Witness in the western Russian republic of Mari El has been found guilty of extremism and given a suspended 6 1/2 year prison sentence.
Ekaterina Pegasheva, who was convicted by the Gornomariskiy district court on June 1, denied the charge and vowed to appeal the ruling.
“The only victims in this criminal case are me, my mother, [and] my elderly sick bedridden grandmother. We have suffered significant damage property, physical, emotional, mental, as well as damage to our reputation,” Pegasheva told the court before the verdict was issued.