RUSSIA: Two trials, nine long jail terms

Eight of nine Jehovah’s Witnesses convicted on extremism-related charges in two trials in Russia’s Far East in December 2022 received jail terms of 6 to 7 years. An Amur Region Prosecutor’s Office official justified the jailings: “Any missionary activity of members of a religious organisation liquidated by a court in connection with repeated violations of the law on countering extremist activity will be illegal in nature and subject to liability established by law.” The 9 were among 124 Jehovah’s Witnesses criminally convicted in 2022. Trials continue.