Russian court orders registration of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kabardino-Balkaria
On 24 April 2001, a judge in southern Russia ordered the Department of Justice in Kabardino-Balkaria to register three congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This republic, with a mixed Orthodox and Muslim population, is close to Chechnya and the Republic of Georgia and is part of the Russian Federation. Judge Takhir Bichekuev found that the actions of the local Department of Justice in evading registration under Russia’s 1997 religion law were illegal.
“We are delighted,” said Sergei Svetkin, attorney for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “The Department of Justice was dragging its heels for almost two years, not even providing a formal response. We joined three applications into one procedure and requested the court to order registration in three cities - Nal’chik, Nartkala and Prokhladny. Prosecutors in Prokhladny and nearby Maiskiy now have reason to think twice about their pending applications to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
Prosecutor applications to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses in Maiskiy and Prokhladny are set to be heard on May 3 and 4. These applications “remind one of the Moscow prosecution earlier this year,” said Svetkin. “The trial court in Moscow, after five weeks of evidence, found that Jehovah’s Witnesses were no threat to Russian society but that they were a responsible Christian religious minority and should not be banned.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses are legally registered under the 1997 religion law in 365 communities across Russia, including federal registration of their Administrative Center near St. Petersburg. Jehovah’s Witnesses numerically place fourth among Russian religions, with about 280,000 associated.
http://www.jw-russia.org/eng/press/prl01apr25.htm
Several days later:
Court Bans Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia
PROKHLADNY, RUSSIA—On May 10, the Prokhladny District Court ordered the dissolving of the local community of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city of Prokhladny, Kabardino-Balkaria. This city is located in southern Russia, not far from Chechnya. The judge decided that the community had violated Russia’s 1997 law on religion because members along with fellow believers were preaching outside the Prokhladny District.
“We filed our appeal immediately,” said Artur Leontyev, an attorney for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “The decision is the result of a campaign of religious intolerance recently unleashed in the territory of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic. Many want the president of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic to approve a new law that would contradict the federal law on religion and severely discriminate against all religious minorities. This would be in direct conflict with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and commitments under the European Convention to protect religious freedom. Some regions, however, do not always agree with federal law.”
The association of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Prokhladny numbers over 500 persons, including victims of Soviet persecution. “It is ironic that the court’s decision to ban us comes in May 2001,” said Vasilii Kalin, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and a survivor of Soviet repression. “This spring marks 50 years since Stalin’s infamous forced exile of thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses to Siberia. During April, scholars and victims met for memorial conferences in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Almaty and Irkutsk. Does Kabardino-Balkaria want to return to those hideous days of religious intolerance?”
In addition to the appeal made by Jehovah’s Witnesses against the banning order, an appeal will probably be launched by the local Ministry of Justice in Kabardino-Balkaria. On April 24, 2001, the Nalchikskiy City Court ordered that office to re-register three local communities of Jehovah’s Witnesses, including the one in Prokhladny. There is also pending legal action to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses in nearby Maiskiy.
http://www.jw-russia.org/cgi-bin/makepage.pl?link=eng/press/prl01may17.htm