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RFE/RL: EU denounces Russian ruling banning Jehovah’s Witnesses

Published April 21, 2017 at 12:56 pm

Participants attend a hearing on the justice ministry request to ban the Jehovah's Witnesses at Russia's Supreme Court in Moscow on April 20. Russia's Supreme Court on April 20 issued a ruling banning Jehovah's Witnesses after finding the group to be extremist.

Photo by AFP

The European Union has denounced a Russian Supreme Court decision to brand the Jehovah’s Witnesses an extremist organization and ban its activities.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini’s office said on April 21 that the ruling “could make it possible to launch criminal prosecutions against Jehovah’s Witnesses for mere acts of worship.”