Moscow (AsiaNews) - In the
province of Rostov in southern Russia , the instrumental use of the law against
extremism to persecute religious minorities and has led to an increase in intolerant
social attitudes, physical and verbal aggression especially against Protestants and Jehovah's
Witnesses. Ezhednevni Zhurnal denounces
the situation in an article by Ksenia Sergazina, a Sova center expert, which
monitors incidents of intolerance throughout the country.
Jehovah's
Witnesses in Tagarong continue to be singled out by investigators. Here
on November 25 the first hearing of the trial against 16 of their members
begins. They were indicted in April for
having restored the local community of this international religious
organization, banned four years ago. In
2009 , in fact , the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation upheld the ruling
of the Rostov court, which required the dissolution and banning of Jehovah's
Witness community in Taganrog , Neklinov and Matveeva - Kurgan , because they were
deemed "extremist". The
human rights activists have denounced the unlawful use of the law against
extremism and demanded that Russia respects the right to religious freedom.
But appeals
to the authorities were useless. On
the contrary: even without waiting for the outcome of the trial, October 28 ,
the investigative bodies of Rostov-on-Don announced that they had placed five
other JWs under investigation. Officially,
they are charged with "not having renounced their faith and continued to
study the Bible together", despite the ban. All five
are now required not to leave town. Among
them was a retired couple, the husband - Vladimir Chesnokov - was already persecuted
for his faith in the times of the USSR.
The
article denounces the "instrumental" use of the law to discriminate
against and prosecute "religious objectors" , ie those that promote
community values ​​considered not to be in line with those of traditional
Russian values. In
the past, not only the texts of the Jehovah's Witnesses, but also Muslims and
Scientology have been deemed "extremist " and therefore banned from
the country. Owning
them, using them for liturgies and even mentioning them is likened to participation
in extremist activity.
As
a result of this judicial persecution, in 2013 , there has been increasing
aggression and intolerance towards these minorities. From
January to November 2013, most of the victims were Muslim (31), Jehovah's
Witnesses (13), Pentecostal ( 3 ) and also the Orthodox (2) . Five
were threatened with death, while others were beaten by common people, police
and staff of the FSB , the Russian intelligence services . The
Jehovah's Witnesses are being targeted in a special way not only in the
province of Rostov, but also in Moscow, Lukhovitsy , Omsk , Yoshkar -Ola ,
Voronezh , Kirov and Chelyabinsk .
The
article concludes with an appeal not to remain indifferent to this escalation
of violence. "You
can imagine the extent of the phenomenon, looking back to the persecution of
believers throughout the USSR - writes Sergazina - in modern Russia the only
difference is that certain groups are being persecuted, but this should not
make it more acceptable, it is a violation of freedom of conscience".