Since 12 years ago, Jehovah Witnesses have been sent to jail/ been home arrested in Russia. As well as being tortured and raided by Russian authorities. For this reason, I believe that this should be stopped. Jehovah Witnesses should have religious freedom in Russia. Imprisonment The first case of this injustice towards Jehovah Witnesses was in June 2008 in Taganrog where 16 Witnesses were held in trial for practicing their faith. Authorities in Taganrog claimed that their literature included extremist language. Due to this, the Witnesses were imprisoned and were interrogated about their publications. Since then, Jehovah Witnesses have faced problems with the Russian authorities. An example of this situation is the case of Anatoliy Tokarev in which October 23rd was the day that the court decided whether or not to be sentenced three and a half years in prison. Picture of Jehovah Witness Dane Dennis Christensen who was sent to jail for six years on May 2017 in Russia. Raiding of Homes Aside from Jehovah Witnesses being imprisoned, their private homes and meeting location were raided by Russian authorities. This was where Jehovah Witnesses would meet up to have meetings based on their beliefs. One report of these raids was in Saratov on June 12, 2018. During this raid, ten Jehovah Witnesses were taken to the police station for interrogation. Another disturbing report was in Tomsk on June 3rd, 2018. Russian’s members of the special military force raided two homes and resulted in taking 30 Witnesses against their will. This even included a woman of 83 years. They were taken to the Center of Counteracting Extremism. Evidence of these actions down below. Tortured by Russian Authorities Adding onto the imprisonment and raiding of Russian authorities, there has also been reports of torture while being interrogated. In an article from ABC news published on February 3rd, 2020, explained that a Jehovah Witness named Vadim Kutsenko was, “beaten and tasered by men who identified themselves as officers of Russia's National Guard.” These actions should not be done to any human being even if they have different religious practices. People could be thinking that the reason Jehovah Witnesses are being treated like this in Russia is because they believe in a violent religion, but they are wrong. Jehovah Witnesses are a peaceful religion that practice their beliefs without harming anyone nor threatening. Jehovah Witnesses, like myself, believe in a type of Christianity that Jehovah’s(God’s name) son Jesus taught while he lived on earth. These beliefs/teachings included being kind to others. From what I have stated and showed today, there is clearly religious freedom, or freedom in general, being taken away from Jehovah Witnesses. Knowing this you could be asking, "What can I do to change this." We can write to the senator of Palm Springs. In result, we can convince them to discuss with worldwide leaders and to get involved with the situation.
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