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A Peaceable People Defend Their Good NameThe Watchtower—2011 | May 1
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IN December 2009 and January 2010, two of the highest courts in Russia declared the religious faith of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be extremist. History seemed to be repeating itself. When the Soviets ruled Russia, thousands of Witnesses were wrongly charged with being enemies of the nation. They were exiled, sent to prisons, and forced into labor camps. After that regime collapsed, Jehovah’s Witnesses were exonerated. The new government officially restored their good name.a Now, once again, some people seem determined to slander the Witnesses.
Early in 2009, the authorities launched an attack on the religious freedom of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In February alone, prosecutors carried out more than 500 investigations across the country. The goal of this campaign? To identify supposed violations of the law by the Witnesses. In the following months, the police raided peaceful religious meetings held in Kingdom Halls and private homes. They confiscated literature and personal possessions. The authorities deported foreign lawyers who were assisting in the Witnesses’ defense and barred them from reentering the country.
On October 5, 2009, customs officials detained a shipment of Bible-based literature at the border near St. Petersburg. The material had been printed in Germany and was intended for a large number of congregations in Russia. A special unit of Russian customs agents who handle dangerous contraband examined the shipment. Why? An official document stated that the shipment “may contain material intended to incite religious discord.”
The wave of harassment soon reached a critical point. The Supreme Courts of the Russian Federation and the Altay Republic (a part of Russia) declared a number of publications used by the Witnesses, including the magazine you are now reading, to be extremist. Jehovah’s Witnesses filed legal appeals, and the international community expressed concern—but to no avail! The rulings currently stand and make it illegal in Russia to import or distribute those Bible-based publications.
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