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Like freedom of the press, religious freedoms and tolerances are also taking a beating around the world, and the past few years have seen an uptick in new restrictions on religious minorities.
Russian Court Sentences Jehovah's Witness To 6 Years In Prison For Extremism
A Russian court has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for promoting extremism.
"I hope today is the day Russia defends religious freedom," Dennis Christensen, who pleaded not guilty in the trial, said as he walked down the hall of the courthouse before the verdict was read.
A Danish citizen with a Russian residency permit, Christensen was arrested at a worship service in May 2017 by armed police in the western city of Orel. He had unlocked the entrance to the building and delivered a sermon that day but he was not a staff member of the organization, according Human Rights Watch.
A local court had banned his chapter of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization the previous year. A month before his arrest, the Supreme Court banned the Christian denomination as an extremist group, classifying it on par with the Islamic State. That ruling dealt a blow to the nearly 400 chapters of Jehovah's Witnesses across the country.
Seriously....comparing Jehovah's witness' to ISIS?
Russia unfortunately part of a larger trend over the past few years:
Global Uptick in Government Restrictions on Religion in 2016
Global Uptick in Government Restrictions on Religion in 2016
Nationalist parties and organizations played an increasing role in harassment of religious minorities, especially in Europe
Russian Court Sentences Jehovah's Witness To 6 Years In Prison For Extremism
A Russian court has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison for promoting extremism.
"I hope today is the day Russia defends religious freedom," Dennis Christensen, who pleaded not guilty in the trial, said as he walked down the hall of the courthouse before the verdict was read.
A Danish citizen with a Russian residency permit, Christensen was arrested at a worship service in May 2017 by armed police in the western city of Orel. He had unlocked the entrance to the building and delivered a sermon that day but he was not a staff member of the organization, according Human Rights Watch.
A local court had banned his chapter of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization the previous year. A month before his arrest, the Supreme Court banned the Christian denomination as an extremist group, classifying it on par with the Islamic State. That ruling dealt a blow to the nearly 400 chapters of Jehovah's Witnesses across the country.
Seriously....comparing Jehovah's witness' to ISIS?
Russia unfortunately part of a larger trend over the past few years:
Global Uptick in Government Restrictions on Religion in 2016
Global Uptick in Government Restrictions on Religion in 2016
Nationalist parties and organizations played an increasing role in harassment of religious minorities, especially in Europe
Restrictions on religion around the world continued to climb in 2016, according to Pew Research Center’s ninth annual study of global restrictions on religion. This marks the second year in a row of increases in the overall level of restrictions imposed either by governments or by private actors (groups and individuals) in the 198 countries examined in the study.
The share of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of government restrictions – that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that restrict religious beliefs and practices – rose from 25% in 2015 to 28% in 2016. This is the largest percentage of countries to have high or very high levels of government restrictions since 2013, and falls just below the 10-year peak of 29% in 2012.
Meanwhile, the share of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of social hostilities involving religion – that is, acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations or groups in society – remained stable in 2016 at 27%. Like government restrictions, social hostilities also peaked in 2012, particularly in the Middle East-North Africa region, which was still feeling the effects of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. The number of countries with high or very high levels of social hostilities declined in 2013 and has remained at about the same level since, but it is higher than it was during the baseline year of this study (2007).
In total in 2016, 83 countries (42%) had high or very high levels of overall restrictions on religion – whether resulting from government actions or from hostile acts by private individuals, organizations and social groups – up from 80 (40%) in 2015 and 58 (29%) in 2007.1
The share of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of government restrictions – that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that restrict religious beliefs and practices – rose from 25% in 2015 to 28% in 2016. This is the largest percentage of countries to have high or very high levels of government restrictions since 2013, and falls just below the 10-year peak of 29% in 2012.
Meanwhile, the share of countries with “high” or “very high” levels of social hostilities involving religion – that is, acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations or groups in society – remained stable in 2016 at 27%. Like government restrictions, social hostilities also peaked in 2012, particularly in the Middle East-North Africa region, which was still feeling the effects of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. The number of countries with high or very high levels of social hostilities declined in 2013 and has remained at about the same level since, but it is higher than it was during the baseline year of this study (2007).
In total in 2016, 83 countries (42%) had high or very high levels of overall restrictions on religion – whether resulting from government actions or from hostile acts by private individuals, organizations and social groups – up from 80 (40%) in 2015 and 58 (29%) in 2007.1
