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Arbitration Court confirms the ban on spreading Jehovah’s Witnesses magazines in Russia

  January 26th, 2012   Post a comments

Looks like Russia is up to it’s old ways. I thought this is very interesting….

Still denying religious freedom.

From Interfax-Religion.com

Moscow, January 26, Interfax – The 9th Arbitration Appeal Court confirmed the Russian Supervisory Agency for Communications ban on spreading in Russia magazines of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Novye Izvestia paper reports on Thursday.

According to estimations of Alexander Dvorkin, who heads Expert Council for Religion Studies at the Justice Ministry, several thousands sects work in Russia, about 600-800 thousand people are involved in them.

However, the edition tells, the number of sectarian has reduced several times in Russia if compared to 1990s.

 

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Purdy’s Farm in Greenwich sells for 1M

  January 24th, 2012   Post a comments
Lisa Chamoff, Staff Writer for the Stamford Advocate

The property was sold last week for $1 million to the Jehovah's Witnesses of Greenwich and Port Chester, N.Y., which is said to have plans to build a church there.

One of Greenwich’s last working farms, and the center of a property dispute dating back several years, has been sold.

The two-acre Purdy’s Farm property at 1353 King St. sold last Thursday for $1 million to the Jehovah’s Witnesses of Greenwich and Port Chester, N.Y., which have plans to build a church on the property. The Jehovah’s Witnesses also purchased the adjacent property at 1357 King St. for $500,000. That property will be used for residences, according to Elsie Pecorin, the broker at Weichert Realtors who has been marketing the property since 2008.

The properties were originally put on the market five years ago for a combined $4 million.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses, which have locations on Stanwich Road in Greenwich and King Street in Port Chester, could not be reached for comment.

Read More at: Stamford Advocate

JW Discussion: JWTalk Forums – In the News & Current Events

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Does God Exist? (a cute parable)

  January 24th, 2012   4 Comments

"Ah, but barbers do exist."

A man went to Barber’s shop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed. As the Barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about so many things and various subjects, when they eventually tourched on the subject of God, the Barber said: “l don’t believe that God exist”

“Why do you say that?” asked the customer.

“Well, you just have to go out in the street to realise that God doestn’t exist, tell me if God exists, would there be so many sick people? would there be abandoned children?. If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.”

The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument.

Barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left barber’s shop, he saw a man on the street with long stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard, he looked dirty and unkept. The customer turned back and entered the barber’s shop again and he said to the Barber, “You know what? Barbers don’t exist.”

“How can you say that?” asked the Barber. “I am here, and l am a barber. And l just worked on you”

“NO!” the customer exclaimed. “Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beard, like that man outside.”

“Ah, but barbers DO exist. That is what happens when people do not come to me.”

“Exactly” affirmed the customer. “That’s the point! God DOES exist! That is why there is so much pain and suffering in the world. That is what happens when people do not go to Him and don’t look to Him for help.”

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Russian authorities employ covert surveillance methods to initiate criminal case

  January 24th, 2012   Post a comments

For Immediate Release | January 24, 2012 | (Russian)

Maksim Kalinin

YOSHKAR-OLA, Russia—Using old-style Soviet tactics, Russian special forces entered the home ofMaksim Kalinin, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and covertly installed audio and video surveillance equipment. On January 25, 2012, Mr. Kalinin will be tried for his religious beliefs.

“In 2010 officers recorded his everyday conversations and then, by twisting the meanings, gave them an extremist slant,” stated Kalinin’s attorney, Yegiazar Chernikov. He continued: “The accusations are all the more absurd because any expression of hatred or enmity is in complete contradiction to the personality of Mr. Kalinin, who is a peaceable and courteous person, a fact confirmed by all of the witnesses questioned during the investigation period.” Mr. Kalinin was officially charged on January 17, 2011.

It is noteworthy that the charges filed against Mr. Kalinin under Article 282(1) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Incitement to Hatred and Enmity) are based on the dubious conclusions of linguistics “experts” from Kemerovo State University. Attempts are presently underway to bring specialists from Kemerovo University to justice for knowingly giving false testimony in similar cases.

Article Source: http://www.jw-media.org/rus/20120124.htm

Last updated 24 January 2012 20:13:29 GMT

Copyright © 2012 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.

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European Court again obligates Turkey to protect rights of conscientious objectors

  January 23rd, 2012   Post a comments

For Immediate Release |  January 23, 2012 | (Turkish)

Feti with his wife and daughter

STRASBOURG, France—On January 17, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously concluded that Turkey had violated Articles 3, 9, and 6.1 of the European Convention when it convicted Feti Demirtaş, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Turkey, for his conscientious objection to military service.

Feti Demirtaş was first called up for military duty in 2005. He suffered a series of humiliating arrests, during which he was often beaten. He was also prosecuted and imprisoned numerous times, serving a total of 554 days in prison until his release in June 2007. Since Demirtaş would not compromise his Bible-based beliefs even in the face of extreme abuse, a report was prepared to classify him permanently as having an alleged mental illness as a pretense to discharge him from the military. In its judgment, the ECHR not only found that Mr. Demirtaş suffered inhumane treatment at the hands of Turkish authorities, it also found that the government’s handling of Mr. Demirtaş’ case violated his right to freedom of conscience. Further, it ruled that he should not have been tried by a military tribunal since he had never agreed to be part of the military.

On July 7, 2011, the Grand Chamber of the ECHR released a landmark decision in Bayatyan v. Armenia and, for the first time in its history, found that Article 9 of the European Convention (Freedom of conscience) protected conscientious objectors. This ruling is binding upon all member states of the Council of Europe, including Turkey. The decision in Demirtaş’ case also comes on the heels of the November 22, 2011, judgment in the case of Erçep v. Turkey, which found that Turkey had violated Articles 6 and 9 of the European Convention when it submitted Mr. Erçep to numerous prosecutions and convictions for being a conscientious objector. The recent ECHR decisions on this issue are obligating countries like Turkey to reevaluate their treatment of conscientious objectors and to adjust their legislation in line with Convention guarantees.

Article Source: http://www.jw-media.org/tur/20120123.htm

Last updated 24 January 2012 20:04:29 GMT

Copyright © 2012 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.

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