RFE/RL: Putin advisers question legality of prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses - Jun. 22, 2018

RFE/RL: Putin advisers question legality of prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses

People attend the annual Jehovah's Witnesses assembly gathering 30.000 believers on July 22, 2011 in Villepinte, Paris suburb. European rights judges said on June 30, 2011 that France had interfered with the religious freedom of Jehovah's Witnesses in imposing a supplementary tax assessment on gifts by its faithful. The Association of Jehovah's Witnesses claimed that the French government was trying to repress their activities by imposing in 1998 a tax assessment that amounted in total to 45 million euros ($65 million), covering the period from 1993 to 1996. AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY / AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY

Photo by AFP

Advisers to Russian President Vladimir Putin have questioned the legality of criminal cases opened against members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, saying law enforcement is misinterpreting a ruling last year by jailing people for collective bible reading and praying.

“It cannot but be a cause for concern because the criminal prosecutions and detentions have taken on a systemic character,” the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights said in a statement on June 21.