Sunday, May 22, 2011

Jehovah's Witness Head in Russia Is Arrested; Accused of Inciting Rel. Hatred in Volga Area

The RIA Novosti (Russian) website reports today (May 22, 2011) that investigations in the Volga region city of Yoshkar-Ola have charged the head of the local Jehovah's Witness (JW) branch with inciting religious hatred.

The coordinator of the city's Jehovah's Witness church -- which is estimated to have about 90 followers -- is accused of disseminating extremist materials and conducting public sermons on the superiority of the religion over others.

Investigators say a large volume of materials was seized during searches.

The Jehovah's Witnesses -- which has some 7 million followers worldwide and 300,000 in Russia -- are banned in Moscow and in a number of other Russian regions and in some former Soviet republics.

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