Despite War, Moscow’s Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses Almost Alone Continues Unabated, Verkhovsky Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Aug. 22 – Since February 24, the FSB and other police agencies have cut back in the number of cases they have lodged concerning extremism on a wide variety of subjects unless they are connected with the war in Ukraine, Aleksandr Verkhovsky says. But there is one major exception: persecution of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

            For reasons that are obscure, the head of the SOVA Center says, it appears that the Kremlin views that religious denomination as “something dangerous.” But “we just do not understand why.” And those who continue to prosecute its members aren’t out looking for real saboteurs (news.ru/society/aleksandr-verhovskij-ya-podozrevayu-v-centrah-e-i-fsb-nepreryvnyj-avral/).

            Given that there has been a reduction and in some cases a radical one in the number of cases the Putin regime has been prosecuting for extremism since February, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are a clear “anomaly,” one that deserves to be highlighted and that the Russian people have a right to have explained to them.