The Central
District Court of Prokopyevsk, Siberia, found a local resident guilty of
creating a cell of the extremist organization "Jehovah's Witnesses"
banned in Russia, the press service of the Kuzbass FSB department reported on
Tuesday.
In April
2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the religious organization
"Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" and all local
religious organizations included in its structure were recognized as extremist,
and banned.
The
defendant was sentenced to seven years in a general regime penal colony.
According
to the investigation, a 53-year-old organized religious meetings of the local
Jehovist cell via video conferencing in October and November 2019. "He
called for the promotion of the exclusivity of the religion of Jehovah's
Witnesses over other faiths," the report said. The case was investigated
under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organization of the
activities of an extremist group).