03:45, 25 May 2014

In Taganrog, trial of Jehovah's Witnesses fails to get adequate public attention, rights defenders assert

Jehovah's Witnesses accused of extremism whose case has being considered in the Taganrog City Court since May 2013. Photo taken from Jehovah's Witnesses’ website.

After sixteen Jehovah's Witnesses accused of extremism had been questioned at the trial, the court has scheduled to examine the additional materials. Therefore, oral discussions and sentencing are postponed. This was reported by the defendants' advocates.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the court hearings on the "Case of the Sixteen" are held at the Taganrog City Court staring from May 30, 2013. The defendants' advocates claim absence of constituent elements of offence in the case.

The human rights defenders note that the "Case of the Sixteen" does not attract resonant public attention, and they explain that fact by the public prejudice against Jehovah's Witnesses, misunderstanding of the danger of such kind of persecution and several other factors.

"Unfortunately, the process fails to get adequate public resonance. I am deeply depressed by that fact. We should always pay attention to the persecution of the categories of people persecuted by the Nazis, the Communist regime, and still persecuted by the post-communist regime," Arseny Roginsky, Chairman of the Board of the International Society "Memorial", has commented on situation when talking to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Author: Olesya Dianova, Oleg Krasnov

Source: CK correspondents