Russia: Jehovah's Witnesses receive long prison sentences

Two Jehovah's Witnesses received prison sentences of seven and eight years in Russia's far east. Russia declared Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization, outlawing it in 2017.

    

Sixty Jehovah's Witnesses are currently serving prison sentences or are under arrest in Russia

Two men who belong to the Jehovah's Witnesses religious group received prison sentences of seven and eight years Wednesday in the far eastern Russian city of Blagoveshchensk.

Dmitry Golik, 30, and Alexei Berchuk, 43, received seven and eight-year terms in a penal colony. The US-based religious movement released a statement calling it "a new record for cruelty."

Judge Tatyana Studilko handed down a sentence that matched the prosecutor's request in the case. Berchuk received the longest sentence handed down to any Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia to date.

The Jehovah's Witnesses said Berchuk's apartment was wiretapped in 2018 following a raid on seven members of the group in the city of Blagoveshchensk. Russian outlet Mediazona reported that the group alleges Berchuk and his wife have been under surveillance for six months.

An extremist group Putin says is not comprised of terrorists

Sixty Jehovah's Witnesses are currently serving time or are under arrest in Russia. In 2017, Russia outlawed the religious group, labeling it an extremist organization.

In February, two Jehovah's Witnesses were sentenced to prison. Alexander Ivshin, 63, was sentenced to 7.5 years by a court in Krasnodar, and Valentina Baranovskay received a two-year term.

The group was founded in the US in the last 19th century. While the Russian Orthodox Church considers the group "a destructive sect," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in 2018 that the Jehovah's Witnesses should not be considered terrorists.

Yet, members of the group continue to face persecution.

ar/sms (AFP, local media)