Russia: FSB deems Jehovah’s Witness material to be extremist

Specialists from the Sverdlovsk Region Department of FSB (Federal Security Service) have carried out five assessments of Jehovah’s Witness material and found them to be “extremist”. The information was originally reported by Interfax, citing as its source the Prosecutor for the city of Asbest Alexei Almaev.

Previously a criminal investigation on charges of “inciting hatred or enmity, as well as denigrating human dignity” was launched in connection with the circulation of Jehovah’s Witness literature. Searches were carried out in the offices of the organization in Yekaterinburg and Asbest with religious literature being removed.

Almaev stated that the Prosecutor is considering whether to ask to court to officially declare the religious literature to be extremist, without awaiting the conclusion of the criminal investigation. He said that there are no individuals at present directly named in the investigation since it is extremely difficult to prove that those who circulated the publication knew of its “unlawful content”.

From information at www.lenta.ru