Thursday, June 10, 2010

European Court: Russian Ban of Jehovah's Witnesses Illegal, Violates Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights today (June 10, 2010) ruled that the 2004 court ban on a Moscow Jehovah's Witnesses community was illegal, according to the Interfax-Religion website.

The ban was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights articles on freedom of thought, conscience, worship, and assembly, the Strasbourg-based court said in a statement.

In March 2004, a Russian court banned the Jehovah's Witnesses community, accusing it of encouraging suicide, of forcing some of its members to avoid medical assistance for religious reasons, of drawing minors into religious activities against their will and without their parents' consent, of causing families to fall apart, and of infringing on personal rights and freedoms.

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