By The European Times | Created at 2026-08-02 08:36:48 | Updated at 2026-08-03 01:55:41
17 hours ago
A Moscow court has seized 123 properties belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses and transferred them to the Russian state, Reuters reported. The court said the properties were registered as property of the Swedish branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses and include 63 residential and commercial properties with a total area of more than 11,000 square meters, as well as 60 plots of land with a total area of 5.6 hectares, located across the country.
Religious life in Russia is dominated by the Orthodox Church, which is supported by and loyal to President Vladimir Putin. Some Orthodox scholars view Jehovah’s Witnesses, known for their door-to-door preaching and refusal to serve in the military, as a “totalitarian sect.” Russia’s Supreme Court designated Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist organization” in 2017, followed by the liquidation and banning of nearly 400 of their branches across the country. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that decision unlawful. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have been imprisoned after receiving convictions for “extremist activities.”
Illustrative photo: pexels-sora-shimazaki-5668481
