Russia On June 10, 2010, Jehovah’s Witnesses were granted a historic legal victory against the Russian government by the ECHR in the case Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow v. Russia. Although the Russian government requested a referral to the 17-judge Grand Chamber of the Court, on December 13, 2010, the panel of the Grand Chamber rejected the government’s request, thus making the June 10 judgment final. That judgment stated that the Russian government “has a legal obligation . . . to put an end to the violation found by the Court and to redress so far as possible the effects.” To date, however, the government has failed to implement this ruling. Instead, it has found new ways to harass and obstruct the Witnesses’ free exercise of their religion.

Those raids seem to be connected to an earlier ruling by the Russian Federation Supreme Court that the local religious organization in Taganrog be liquidated and that 34 of our publications be declared extremist. Based on decisions in Russian courts, the government has placed 63 of our publications on the Federal List of Extremist Materials.