The Justice Department sued the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Ministry of Justice, United Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church and the ban on Jehovah's Witnesses or Who is behind the organization of the ban on the SI in the Russian Federation? And here is a photo of Anton Androsov with Dvorkin

MOSCOW, April 21 - RIA Novosti, Anton Skripunov."This verdict could be the first step towards a ban on Jehovah's Witnesses in all territories of the Russian Federation," the media wrote in 2011. The Kogalym World Court convicted Natalia Podlozhevich for forbidding doctors to transfuse blood to her 5-year-old son. Doctors tried to save Seryozha Podlozhevich, but they did not have the authority to do so.

The headlines were prophetic. Six years later Supreme Court The Russian Federation recognized the activities of the "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" as extremist and banned its work. The Center of Jehovah's Witnesses can appeal this decision to the appellate instance; if a complaint is filed, the decision to ban the organization will not yet enter into force.

If the court decision comes into force, members of Jehovah's Witnesses may be held liable for extremism under part 2 of article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "participation in the activities of a religious association in respect of which a court has adopted a decision that has entered into force to liquidate or ban activities in connection with carrying out extremist activities." Thus, adherents of "Jehovah's Witnesses" may face imprisonment for a term of two to six years.

Together with the head center, 395 organizations included in its structure are being liquidated. Of these, eight departments were prosecuted for extremism. Jehovah's Witnesses note that the court's decision directly affects about 400 registered local religious organizations in Russia, and also applies to all 2,277 religious groups throughout the country, uniting 175,000 followers of this religious movement.

During the trial, it became known that the Ministry of Justice, in particular, charged the Jehovah's Witnesses with refusing blood transfusions. The agency is also convinced that the activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses pose a threat to the protection of the rights and interests of society and public safety. According to the decision of the Russian courts, 95 brochures of the organization were recognized as extremist.

bloody taboo

The story of Serezha Podlozhevich was not the only one widely discussed in the media. In 2010, doctors fought both in court and on the operating table for the life of 10-year-old Vanya Orlukovich from Moscow. He was hit by a car, a blood transfusion was required, but the child's mother categorically refused to give consent to the operation. The doctors still won the right to transfuse the boy's blood, but, alas, such precious time in such cases was lost.

“I think that he died not because of this, but because of a severe head injury. It is unlikely that they could have saved him,” Lyudmila Orlukovich said then.

Jehovah's Witnesses are convinced that the "clear command" not to transfuse blood is found in the Bible. As an argument, they cite, for example, the following quotation from the Old Testament book of Genesis: "Only the flesh with its soul, with its blood, do not eat."

It turns out that Jehovah's Witnesses did not always have a ban on blood transfusions. In 1945, they only began to condemn him, although 20 years earlier everything was the opposite - blood transfusion was encouraged by the leadership of the organization. It was not until 1961 that donation became taboo. For this, the adherent of Jehovah's Witnesses is threatened with expulsion from the sect.

“If a citizen refuses a medical procedure of his own free will, then this is one thing. And if an organization forbids (in this case, this), then this is another. The situation is especially terrible when it comes to children, because it is obvious that the sect makes the choice for him The price for this is the life of a child," the president explained to RIA Novosti Russian Association Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects (RATSIRS), Alexander Dvorkin, member of the Expert Council for State Religious Expertise under the Ministry of Justice.

What is extremism

According to sectarian Dvorkin, "Jehovah's Witnesses have a ban on voting and being elected. "There is also a ban on serving in the army, a ban on celebrating all holidays - state, personal, public, religious, etc. - a ban on saluting the anthem and flag of their country," he added.

The state, as Dvorkin noted, does not have the right to determine how and what to believe; this is not within the scope of its duties. In the case of the court decision, this is not about a ban on faith, as the Jehovists themselves say, but about the status of a religious organization. "In other words, can there be an organization in a country that does not actually recognize its constitutional system. In any case, should such an organization receive a privileged tax-free status?" the expert asks.

In turn, a member of the expert council for conducting state religious expertise under the Ministry of Justice, Roman Silantiev, notes that there were cases when adherents of the sect not only did not vote themselves, but also went door-to-door on election day and dissuaded them from voting. In addition, the organization, in his opinion, is very aggressive towards representatives of other religious movements.

“Extremist activity can be of two types: directed outward and inward. A destructive organization can mock its own members and call for hostile actions against other people. Jehovah’s Witnesses had both types of such activity,” Silantiev believes.

Litigation is not over

Almost immediately after the verdict, representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses announced that they wanted to appeal the court decision. During the process, the organization's lawyers argued that, for example, refusing blood transfusions is not extremism - there is no such act in the law on countering extremist activities. The believers have already begun to prepare an appeal, which should be considered by the Presidium of the RF Armed Forces within a month. But the next stage after it is well known.

“If they lose in the Presidium of the Supreme Court, then they go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and there they almost certainly win, because the grounds for the ban are simply insignificant,” believes a member of the President’s Development Council civil society and Human Rights, Director of the Information and Analytical Center "Sova" Alexander Verkhovsky.

According to the expert, the bans of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were issued on the following basis: "Jehovah's Witnesses" in their doctrine, in their sermons, in their texts claim that their faith is the best, it is correct, and the rest are wrong. If this is translated into the language of Russian legislation, then it turns out that we are talking about the proclamation of religious superiority, and this is a direct path to inter-religious hatred.

- "God's servant".

And then there is the Parable of the Return prodigal son,
and man already enters the Degree of Sonship.
Those. here - both Man and Nature - Adore!
(by the way - this is the function of spreading the Church,
and her missionary work).

"for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world."

While atheists logically follow the denial
both nature and man. And practice has already shown
- the destructive effect of atheism on Nature and Man.
Because in its essence - atheism is the destructive Heresy of Nihilism,
yet at the same time another heresy - belief in the existence of "independent matter".

"We will destroy the whole world to the ground, and then,"
We will build world terror, whoever was nothing will become everything!

What a bright illustration of these two Heresies.

They seem to be declaring materialism, and then
we read the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "a GHOST haunts Europe",
- belief in terry ghosts and fuzzy phantoms.
And also - "Virhi fuzzy fight over us ....", etc.
there - a lot of that, Whirlwinds, Ghosts, and even Hydras.

On the one hand, the God-Man-Nature system, which has been tested for thousands of years, is completely rejected; what is there and it is impossible to cross out something without denying this whole system as a whole. Negative hallucination.
And on the other hand, BELIEF is affirmed in something non-existent and hallucinated, eternal "independent matter", velvety Ghosts and terry Fantomas or Whirlwinds. positive hallucination.

Thus, fans of the heretical sect of "constructing atheism" are forced to constantly hallucinate, either a negative hallucination or a positive one. Simply put, cunning scammers - from free people, made dependent and unfree labor zombies, or low-paid golems - without freedom of choice. And by the way, in the same place, Human Rights are almost completely rejected and violated, which is very characteristic and illustrative, even in itself.

Eg. in the Church of the Holy Cats - we believe that cats exist!
And anyone - even just a sane person understands
that "A World Without Cats" is a fiction, a hallucination,
heresy or something virtual reality,
opposed to the reality around us.

Likewise - the world without God, or - without Man, or - without Nature,
there is a type - "matrix" for the zombie population of the plundered colonies.

And the cries and slogans of "atheists"
- like "We are new - a world without cats, let's build ...",
will already be perceived - as obsessively galloping demoniac,
hostile to the reality around us.

"Whoever does not jump, he is for cats!", "To a kitten for a gilyak!"

Learn - the recent history of our country,
and also - these sectarians "turned back the rivers" and "translated time".

It will even be a deviation - from the human norm
- obsessively jumping demoniac,
hostile
the reality around us.

The result of the activity of these sectarians of atheism is deplorable,
Nature suffered greatly, many people,
and even the state itself - from the World Empire,
became - raw "gas station".

And of course - no "bright future",
and no Prosperity and no Enlightenment
- all these sectarian rogues did not build like that.
And where did the Marxist methodology go???
Oh yes - philosophers were also sent away
on "philosophical boats", remember your story.

The point is not even in cats, but in the madness and bestiality of a godless person.
In the denial of the very - the human principle, and human rights and freedoms.

Suspended the activities of the parent organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. The organization, which represents a religious trend that emerged in the United States in the 19th century, was included in the list of public and religious associations whose activities were suspended due to their extremist activities. A week ago, the Ministry of Justice sent a corresponding lawsuit to the Supreme Court of Russia.

“The court received an administrative claim from the Ministry of Justice of Russia on recognizing the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia as an extremist organization and banning its activities on the territory of Russia,” the court representative said.

On April 5, the Supreme Court will make a final decision on the work of the organization in Russia.

In response, the chairman of the center's steering committee issued a video message in which he called the current trial the most difficult time in the life of 175,000 followers of their church.

“They are asking for capital punishment for all three hundred and ninety-six of our organizations! A special point is to confiscate from believers all their prayer houses and other property! If the Ministry of Justice gets its way, believers will face up to 10 years in prison!” the religious leader pointed out.

In October last year, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were banned in Birobidzhan by a decision of the court of the Jewish Autonomous Region due to the distribution of extremist literature.

“According to the decision of the court, the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Birobidzhan was recognized as extremist, does not meet the requirements of the Federal Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations”, its activities are prohibited in Russia, it is liquidated with exclusion from the Unified State Register legal entities", - the text of the official message says.

However, official representative organization noted that the publications included in the list of extremist materials, because of which this decision was made, did not belong to Jehovah's Witnesses.

“Evidence has accumulated that law enforcement officers and persons cooperating with them systematically plant printed publications included in the Federal List of Extremist Materials (FSEM) at worship services,” the church said in a statement.

Last summer, the Sverdlovsk Regional Court recognized the Witnesses' brochure as extremist material. The proceedings concerned January 2015, when Witnesses were distributing a brochure entitled “How did life appear?” in one of the shopping centers in the city of Serov. In the course of the examinations, the experts found that the publication contains statements aimed at inciting hatred and enmity towards other religions. The representative of the religious organization filed an appeal against this decision, but the court left it without consideration.

The defenders of Jehovah's Witnesses are often members of US diplomatic missions. So,

American diplomats expressed concern about the ban on the Witnesses' activities in Taganrog in 2015.

The embassy then called on the Russian authorities to stop persecution for religious beliefs, and a spokesman for the American embassy said that in Russia "the state denies the rights of religious minorities."

Jehovah's Witnesses are not the first religious organization whose legality is challenged by the Ministry of Justice. On November 23, 2015, he considered the claim of this ministry for the liquidation of the "Church of Scientology of Moscow" and recognized the organization as not complying with federal law. Scientologists were given six months to shut down. Church followers tried to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court, but the latter upheld the decision of the Moscow City Court.

Jehovah's Witnesses demanded to recognize the decision of the Ministry of Justice as political repressions

The Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses filed a counterclaim with the Supreme Court against the Ministry of Justice of Russia demanding that the religious organization be recognized as a victim political repression when accused of extremism. At the same time, all 395 local organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses, including communities in the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasus Federal District, applied to the court to join the process as co-defendants in the original lawsuit.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the activities of the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses" in Russia have been suspended since March 15 by the decision of the Ministry of Justice, about which the department informed on its website on March 23, accusing the organization of "violating the statutory goals and objectives, as well as the current legislation RF", including the law on extremism. The Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court of Russia to ban the activities of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses, the hearing of the lawsuit is scheduled for today, April 5.

According to Rostov lawyer Nikita Abramov, who represented the interests of Jehovah's Witnesses in courts, if the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia is liquidated, all local organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia will be automatically liquidated. According to the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, in the south of Russia, as of March 30, 2017, there were 107 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses - 74 in the Southern Federal District and 33 in the North Caucasus Federal District. In particular, in Krasnodar Territory- 39 communities, in Rostov region- 13, in Volgograd region- 14, in Adygea - seven, in Astrakhan region- one, in Stavropol - 22, in Kabardino-Balkaria - five, in Dagestan, North Ossetia and Karachay-Cherkessia - two each.

The Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses filed a counterclaim against the Ministry of Justice of Russia with the Supreme Court of Russia on March 30, in which the religious organization demands to recognize the appeal of the Ministry of Justice and the suspension of the organization's activities as political repression against their religion, writes today, April 5, with reference to the information of Jehovah's Witnesses "Novaya newspaper".

According to the Jehovah's Witnesses, in their counterclaim they appeal to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, the law "On the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions", as well as the Decree of the President of Russia of March 14, 1996 "On Measures for the Rehabilitation of Priests and Believers Who Have Been Victims of Unjustified Repressions ".

In addition, the lawsuit appealed against the very decision of the Ministry of Justice to suspend the activities of religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses. Consideration of the counterclaim in the Supreme Court of Russia, as well as the initial claim of the Ministry of Justice, is scheduled for April 5, the religious organization noted.

In addition, on April 4, the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia filed an objection to the claim of the Ministry of Justice in court, in which it requests that the claim of the Ministry of Justice be dismissed in full, according to an April 4 report on the website of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.

Meanwhile, all 395 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses, which were indicated by the Ministry of Justice in the initial lawsuit as structural subdivisions of the Administrative Center, appealed to the Supreme Court of Russia with a demand to recognize them as co-defendants in the case in order to be able to exercise their right to a fair trial, is specified on the website of the information and analytical center "Owl".

The "Caucasian Knot" does not yet have comments from representatives of the Ministry of Justice regarding the objections to the claim and the counterclaim of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Bank accounts of Jehovah's Witnesses blocked, organization says

The accounts of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses have been blocked by banks, Ivan Belenko, press secretary of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Banks not only did not allow us to withdraw any funds, but even blocked access to the Internet bank. We cannot even see what is left on the account. It is obvious that the banks are very scared. The conversation with them is not very constructive. Let me remind you that all this happens before the court decision, this is only an internal order of the Ministry of Justice," he said.

According to him, the organization's management center received information from local religious organizations in the South federal district that some banks offered local organizations to voluntarily close their accounts.

“We also receive more or less scattered information from the south of Russia. From Azov, Belorechensk, information was received about the actions of the bank in relation to their accounts. Banks offer them to close their accounts themselves, set strict deadlines. And accounts are an opportunity to pay the costs associated with rent , maintenance, economic services. Such measures will undoubtedly paralyze the organization's activities," Belenko added.

According to him, information about the situation with bank accounts has not yet been received from other regions of the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasus Federal District.

"The order of the Ministry of Justice contains a certain list of activities that should be suspended. And the believers have suspended it," Belenko said.

According to him, while the religious organization is allowed to engage in "current economic activity", however, due to the blocking of bank accounts, it is difficult to conduct this activity.

The "Caucasian Knot" does not yet have comments from representatives of banks regarding the situation with the accounts of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia has reached an unprecedented scale, Russian human rights activists stated. Lawyers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" stated that the decision of the Ministry of Justice to suspend the activities of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia applies exclusively to a legal entity and cannot be a basis for persecuting individual believers of this denomination, whose right to freely practice their religion is guaranteed by the Constitution and the law "On Freedom of Conscience" .

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent in Rostov-on-Don tried to find out about the work of the liturgical building of Jehovah's Witnesses "Kingdom Hall".

On the old version The website of the administration of Rostov-on-Don indicates that the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in the city is located at two addresses: Budennovsky Prospekt, 102, apartment 1 and Shtakhanovskogo Street, 22. Moreover, the last address is listed as a "house of prayer."

When checking the first address, it turned out that this apartment is located in a three-story pre-war building. No one answered the call to the intercom in this apartment on April 4 at about 15.00 Moscow time.

At the second address, there is a Soviet-built residential building, which has an extension on the second floor above the Magnit store with eurowindows. The windows on one side are closed, and on the other side they are sealed with iron sheets, the entrance is through a door with an intercom bell, which no one answered, or along an iron external staircase to the second floor, where the keyhole is sealed with mounting foam.

There are no identifying marks on the door of the house on Shtakhanovskogo Street indicating that they belong to Jehovah's Witnesses. According to the neighbors, groups of citizens gathered in this office in the evening, but since the end of February they have not been noticed, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

At the same time, the website of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, when geolocating the nearest office in Rostov-on-Don, shows the nearest places of work in the cities of the Luhansk region of Ukraine.

The "Handbook" section of the "Caucasian Knot" has published an all-Russian list of materials recognized by the court as extremist. Article 13 federal law"On counteracting extremist activity", this list "is subject to periodic publication in the mass media."

https://www.site/2017-04-04/svideteli_iegovy_o_vozmozhnyh_posledstviyah_priznaniya_organizacii_ekstremistskoy

“Everything is being done to eradicate freedom of religion in Russia”

"Jehovah's Witnesses" possible consequences recognition of the organization as extremist

Sergey Tantsura

On April 5, the Supreme Court will start considering the case on the suit of the Ministry of Justice, which demands that the religious organization "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" be recognized as an extremist religious organization and that its activities be banned throughout the country. Since March 15, according to the order of the Ministry of Justice, the activities of the organization in Russia have been suspended. Over the past few years, more than 80 publications of the organization have been recognized as extremist literature, prohibited from distribution. The Jehovah's Witnesses themselves filed a counterclaim with the Supreme Court demanding that the ministry's actions be recognized as political repression. Sergei Tantsura, a representative of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Yekaterinburg, and lawyer Egiazar Chernikov, who represents the interests of the organization in many regions, told the website in an interview how, in their opinion, the state turns 175,000 law-abiding citizens into criminals.

- Why do you think now, after years work of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, the Ministry of Justice went to court?

Sergey Tantsura: This also raises a lot of questions for us. Until 1991 in former USSR"Jehovah's Witnesses" were banned, but in 1991 they received registration and the opportunity to freely practice their religion in the territory Russian Federation. And in 1996, according to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Jehovah's Witnesses were recognized as victims of political repression, received the appropriate status and were rehabilitated. In principle, Jehovah's Witnesses have not changed in any way since then. But attitudes towards them have changed.

- How?

Sergey Tantsura: In 2006, amendments were made to the law on extremism. The wording has become more vague.

- Which ones exactly?

Various changes and additions were made related to the very concept of "extremism". For example, article 1 of federal law No. 114 describes such wide range manifestations of extremism, that almost any public person who carelessly spoke out can be held accountable. For example, extremism is considered if a person declares the exclusivity of his faith. But it is a well-known fact that every religion considers itself the only true and exclusive, otherwise it would not be a religion. There is no indication in any religious teaching that its provisions are erroneous. That is, the very fact that Jehovah's Witnesses consider their religion to be exclusive makes them extremists.

Is this the basis of the claims of the Ministry of Justice to Jehovah's Witnesses?

No. The conclusion of the Ministry of Justice on the results of the audit is based on court decisions that were earlier. We are talking about the liquidation of eight local religious organizations. But before taking the decision to liquidate them, some members of local organizations were held administratively liable for possession or dissemination of extremist materials.

- What are these materials?

These are magazines that have been translated into many languages ​​for the organization's supporters around the world to read. The materials are the same, but they raise questions only in Russia. But I want to emphasize that the attacks on the Witnesses intensified especially when Kirill became the patriarch.

How is he related to this?

Now the screws are being tightened more and more, everything is being done to eradicate freedom of religion in Russia. After amendments to the law on extremism, representatives of law enforcement agencies in many regions began to come to worship services and literally seize literature, in particular, the Watchtower and Awake! magazines with KamAZ trucks. Then these materials are sent to specialists, as a rule, from among the FSB officers, who, contrary to all scientific data, recognize the publications as extremist, and the court agrees with them. To date, 88 publications have already been recognized as extremist. All this is stored in the warehouses of law enforcement agencies, which simply go to places of worship and plant prohibited literature.

- AT Sverdlovsk region it was so?

Sergey Tantsura: Yes, in Nizhny Tagil.

- You contacted law enforcement with complaints about it?

Yes. I participated in lawsuits in many regions and noticed that all courts follow approximately the same pattern. In one day, they run the whole process, although we declare in court that the publications do not belong to Jehovah's Witnesses, they were planted by operational officers. We have repeatedly proposed to conduct an examination, to identify fingerprints on these materials. No court agrees.

Why do you think you should waste a large number of resources to liquidate your organization?

Sergey Tantsura: We don't understand ourselves.

- But you probably have assumptions about the political or ideological background?

Sergey Tantsura: From a political point of view, Jehovah's Witnesses are neutral; we do not support any of the political structures. And accordingly, there is no such political force that would protect our interests. Therefore, we become an easy target. Maksim Shevchenko spoke about the fact that behind the persecution there are people from the special services who defend the interests of individual Orthodox structures who think that since they strangled the “Witnesses” during the communist regime, they must be strangled now.

Why do you interfere with the Orthodox so much?

Sergey Tantsura: Jehovah's Witnesses are known for going from person to person, contacting people directly, and sharing their beliefs. This, to some extent, irritates, as we see, the Russian Orthodox Church.

- Why?

Sergey Tantsura: Apparently, the ROC considers us as their competitors.

- And how many people in Russia are now supporters of Jehovah's Witnesses?

Sergey Tantsura: 175 thousand throughout Russia. In Yekaterinburg - about a thousand, in the Sverdlovsk region (excluding Yekaterinburg) - about 2.5 thousand.

- It's not very much. The ROC has many more supporters. Why then do you think you are seen as a danger?

Sergey Tantsura: paradoxical situation.

It has always been. If you look into history, you can see that the Russian Orthodox Church, and especially the Moscow Patriarchate, regularly launched campaigns against the Witnesses. They used their connections both among the security forces and among the deputies. The same Shevchenko said that Patriarch Kirill came from the KGB. That is, before the “Witnesses” were strangled by the KGB, but they were not strangled, now the FSB is doing the same.

— Since March 15, by decision of the Ministry of Justice, the activities of the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia have been suspended. In fact, what does this mean for the supporters of the organization in Yekaterinburg or in any other city?

It's actually complex issue. For example, in the submission of the Ministry of Justice, it is said that it is inadmissible to hold rallies, processions and other public actions, but the Witnesses, according to their convictions, never do such things.

- What is the management center?

This is a center that, according to the charter, coordinates all the activities of the Witnesses throughout Russia. But in each region there is a separate legal entity, there are 395 in total, including eight liquidated to date. As stated in the submission of the Ministry of Justice, the restrictions apply only to those legal entities in the regions that were part of the structure of the management center as founders of the media. There are only four such local organizations in Russia, and the Yekaterinburg LRO is not one of them. In theory, the rest of the presentation should not touch at all. However, there is a paradoxical situation. The chairman of the committee of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yekaterinburg received a submission from the prosecutor's office of the Ordzhonikidzevsky district of the city, which states that on March 24, employees of the supervisory department discovered that a meeting of deaf and mute believers was being held in the organization's premises at 5 Bauman Street, which, as they considered in the prosecutor's office, is a violation of the submission of the Ministry of Justice on the suspension of activities. Although formally the local organization has nothing to do with this document. Moreover, she does not own the premises on Bauman Street, but representatives of a religious group gathered there, which, in turn, formally has nothing to do with the local legal entity.

- What, according to the presentation of the district prosecutor's office, should the chairman of the committee of the local organization do?

Eliminate violations of the law. That is, the prosecutor's office binds the local organization to the presentation of the Ministry of Justice by will.

- But in fact, the people who participated in the worship at Bauman are "Jehovah's Witnesses"?

Yes. But the demand of the prosecutor's office is obviously impracticable. The chairman of a local organization cannot go to these people's homes and forbid them to gather or hold worship services. This is an intervention in privacy which is a criminal offence. When the chairman was handed a paper from the prosecutor's office, he immediately wrote on it: "I consider this presentation illegal and unfounded, as well as made on far-fetched and artificially created grounds." What else could be the answer, I don't know. One thing is clear: by filing a lawsuit against the Jehovah's Witnesses in the Supreme Court, the state wants to completely do away with this organization.

From a legal point of view, yes. But how will this affect ordinary people, supporters?

Sergey Tantsura: If the court takes the side of the Ministry of Justice, all 175,000 supporters of Jehovah's Witnesses will automatically fall into the category of potential criminals. They may be charged with extremism if anyone continues to practice their religion after the liquidation of the administrative center. That is, even if the two of us sat down to read Holy Bible, then everything, this is extremism. A peaceful prayer meeting is also extremism. Everything will be very quick and simple: operatives came and collected evidence that the service continues, and people become criminals, defendants in the case. Depending on the severity, punishments can differ radically: from a fine (up to 700 thousand rubles) to imprisonment (up to 10 years). The fate of thousands of families, including children, will be crippled. Law-abiding citizens who have never been involved in corruption, terrorist attacks or other crimes will suffer, but overnight they will become lawbreakers.

— Tell us more about the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yekaterinburg? Do you own buildings, structures, valuable property?

Sergey Tantsura: As far as I know, the Yekaterinburg MRO does not have any valuable property, buildings, structures.

- Where are the meetings held?

Typically, local religious organizations hold worship services three times a year: premises are rented and one-day conventions are held for all supporters. But this year, in connection with what is happening, the MPO did not have such. In addition, for religious groups, each of which includes about 100 people, services are held twice a week at Bauman, 5. The premises themselves at Bauman belong to a private person who provides it for events.

— What do Jehovah's Witnesses do besides worship?

Sergey Tantsura: Each of Jehovah's Witnesses voluntarily shares their beliefs at the behest of Christ.

- How does this happen? Do they go to apartments?

Usually Jehovah's Witnesses come in twos. They go down the street or from house to house to apartments, and if people show interest and want to talk, they share their views and beliefs with them. For example, they cover topics: what our confidence in the future depends on, how to find confidence and meaning in life today, what it is based on, how to arrange a happy family life how to raise children so that they become socially useful members of society.

- How effective is it? Per recent times Has the number of supporters increased?

Sergey Tantsura: For comparison: in 1997 there were only 80 supporters of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yekaterinburg, now there are 1,000.

Globally, it's the same. In the 90s there were about 6 million, today - more than 8 million.

How is the organization funded?

Sergey Tantsura: Through voluntary donations.

- Voluntarily forced?

Sergey Tantsura: No. There is no control over how much you donate. In places of worship there are always two boxes: one for the local congregation and one for the worldwide cause. And everyone, according to their strength and capabilities, donates a certain amount.

- Who controls the costs?

Sergey Tantsura: Everything is pretty transparent. You need to pay for the use of the premises, pay for some stationery. Nobody gets paid. The amount that is collected for the global cause is distributed within the framework of international organization around the world. Jehovah's Witnesses officially exist in 240 countries.

— Sergey, how did you join Jehovah's Witnesses?

Sergey Tantsura: I met Jehovah's Witnesses in the winter of 1994. I came to my cousin to work and saw the publications of the organization that caught my attention.

- What exactly?

Sergey Tantsura: There were very reasonable answers to the question of how life began. The publication was very convincing about the recklessness of Darwin's theory of the origin of life. The biblical position was maintained that the primary source of all life is God. I noticed how the publications of Jehovah's Witnesses explained issues that worried me a lot. For example, why is there so much evil in the world, why does God allow suffering, what happens to a person after death. I was interested in questions about what the future holds for people, how to act wisely. Surprisingly, I found answers to these questions in publications. At that time, I attended church, was once on Orthodox Easter.

- Are you baptized?

Sergey Tantsura: No. At that time, I began to explore religion. Through the Bible, I met the main person in the universe, God, whose name is Jehovah. I learned how to approach him, I learned how to make friends with this person. My life has changed a lot, I left everything bad habits. My life has found true meaning. Later, I met with people representing different faiths, and always subjected my views to sound analysis. But I did not see a point of view that would be better, that would suit me more. I have happy family I have a wife who supports me in everything. My life is full of meaning and contentment.

— If the decision of the court is not on the side of the Jehovah's Witnesses, on your life principles will it have any effect?

Sergey Tantsura: No. I watch everything that happens with a shudder of my heart. My family, my friends are very worried. But we know that there were examples of persecution. In Nazi Germany, Jehovah's Witnesses were subjected to repression for their views. Moreover, all their torment could end if they signed just one document, abandoning their beliefs. But they didn't. For me and for my family, this is a role model.