Russia moves to declare Jehovah's Witnesses as 'extremist organization'

The Russian Justice Ministry has moved to label the country's Jehovah's Witnesses an 'extremist organization' after it filed a case with the Supreme Court following years of government suspicion toward the group.


The lawsuit noted on the court's website with no date given for legal action seeks to declare the national administrative headquarters for Russia's Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization. 

In response to the filing, the press office for the Russian branch of the religion released a statement on Thursday saying declaring Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist would "entail disastrous consequences for freedom of religion in Russia and "it would represent 'dire consequences' for religious freedom in Russia if approved.

'Extremism is deeply alien to the Bible-based beliefs and morality of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The church with an estimated 175,000 followers in more than 2,000 congregations in the country have come under increasing pressure in recent years, including a ban on distributing literature deemed to violate Russia's anti-extremism laws and in February, investigators conducted an inspection of the religion's headquarters in St. Petersburg.