https://www.abc27.com/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-man-sentenced-amid-jehovahs-witness-sexual-abuse-investigation/.
(whtm) – a reading man will serve up to 46 years in prison amid the pennsylvania attorney general‘s investigation into alleged sexual abuse of jehovah’s witnesses congregation members.. luis manuel ayala-velasquez, 56, was arrested last year after a grand jury investigation where sexual assault charges were recommended against more than a dozen members of the jehovah’s witnesses faith.. read more: https://www.abc27.com/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-man-sentenced-amid-jehovahs-witness-sexual-abuse-investigation/.
(WHTM) – A Reading man will serve up to 46 years in prison amid the Pennsylvania Attorney General‘s investigation into alleged sexual abuse of Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation members.
Luis Manuel Ayala-Velasquez, 56, was arrested last year after a grand jury investigation where sexual assault charges were recommended against more than a dozen members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith.
https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2290924/jehovah-s-witnesses-fail-to-get-state-recognition-in-lithuania#:~:text=lithuanian%20lawmakers%20on%20thursday%20denied,in%20favour%2c%20and%20three%20abstained.
jehovah’s witnesses fail to get state recognition in lithuania.
news2024.06.06 13:46. lithuanian lawmakers on thursday denied state recognition to the lithuanian jehovah’s witnesses religious community.. in total, 88 mps voted against granting jehovah’s witnesses state recognition, two were in favour, and three abstained.. according to the seimas, this community does not comply with the lithuanian constitution and its requirement that religious teachings and rituals be in accordance with the law and integrity.. the resolution says that the religious teaching of jehovah’s witnesses prohibiting blood transfusions is incompatible with the constitutional right to life of a human being and the right to state-guaranteed medical aid.. it also says that the community’s teaching prohibiting participation in the defence of the state with weapons or contribution to the defence of the state by non-military means encourages non-compliance with the constitution and its requirements to defend the state against a foreign armed attack.. read more: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2290924/jehovah-s-witnesses-fail-to-get-state-recognition-in-lithuania#:~:text=lithuanian%20lawmakers%20on%20thursday%20denied,in%20favour%2c%20and%20three%20abstained.
Jehovah’s Witnesses fail to get state recognition in Lithuania
News2024.06.06 13:46
Lithuanian lawmakers on Thursday denied state recognition to the Lithuanian Jehovah’s Witnesses Religious Community.
In total, 88 MPs voted against granting Jehovah’s Witnesses state recognition, two were in favour, and three abstained.
According to the Seimas, this community does not comply with the Lithuanian constitution and its requirement that religious teachings and rituals be in accordance with the law and integrity.
The resolution says that the religious teaching of Jehovah’s Witnesses prohibiting blood transfusions is incompatible with the constitutional right to life of a human being and the right to state-guaranteed medical aid.
It also says that the community’s teaching prohibiting participation in the defence of the state with weapons or contribution to the defence of the state by non-military means encourages non-compliance with the constitution and its requirements to defend the state against a foreign armed attack.
the jehovah's witnesses have lost their appeal to avoid investigation by a new zealand royal commission.
"a legal bid by the jehovah's witness church challenging a ruling by the royal commission of inquiry into abuse in care has been dismissed by the court of appeal.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515102/abuse-in-care-inquiry-jehovah-s-witness-appeal-dismissed.
The Jehovah's Witnesses have lost their appeal to avoid investigation by a New Zealand Royal Commission.
"A legal bid by the Jehovah's Witness church challenging a ruling by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal."
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_38a99c8e-ebad-11ee-bed3-63c88e943360.html .
mar 26, 2024. a bill that removes the statute of limitations for civil claims on child sexual abuse has been signed into law by gov.
jay inslee.. rep. darya farivar, d-seattle, sponsored house bill 1618.. “we all know that sexual abuse is underreported and that often, people don’t come forward for fear of retaliation or fear it won’t be taken seriously, or because of having to relive that incredible trauma,” he said.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/washington/article_38a99c8e-ebad-11ee-bed3-63c88e943360.html
A bill that removes the statute of limitations for civil claims on child sexual abuse has been signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee.
Rep. Darya Farivar, D-Seattle, sponsored House Bill 1618.
“We all know that sexual abuse is underreported and that often, people don’t come forward for fear of retaliation or fear it won’t be taken seriously, or because of having to relive that incredible trauma,” he said. “We also know that trauma significantly impacts how our brains work and it can take time for someone to speak their truth and seek that justice."
Amid debate, Courtney Butler, a concerned citizen, told members of the Law and Justice Committee about the abuse she endured as a teen.
“At the age of sixteen, I was sadistically raped by a coach while I was playing soccer at a Thurston County club. After that happened, I replaced the love of a sport I had played since the age of 5, with shame, self-hatred and depression.”
She told lawmakers she began cutting herself and still looks at the scars on her hands from self-harm.
“Shortly after that, I discovered drugs and it was my outlet, it made me feel nothing, it made me not care about anyone or anything,” she said. “When my statute of limitations ran out, I was in deep addiction and after another woman came forward from the same soccer club but a different coach, I swore that day I would kill myself, rather than come forward and tell my story.”
“To this day I still scream in the middle of the night and have night terrors over what happened to me,” said Butler who settled her case in 2022.
Her attorney, Darrell Cochran with the Washington State Association for Justice told lawmakers when they initially filed suit against the soccer club, “Their insurance and attorneys immediately tried to have the case dismissed because of the statute of limitations.”
He explained how in 1991 Washington lawmakers passed a law removing the statute of limitations for child sex abuse, but he said that law has slowly been eroded because trial courts were given a great deal of opportunity for interpretation of the law.
Cary Silverman with the American Tort Reform Association testified against the bill.
“The bill’s complete abandonment of the statute of limitation is unprecedented and while some may see statutes of limitation as arbitrary, they are critical," he said.
Silverman said he was concerned about this bill opening the door for a flood of legal action going back decades.
“Never before to our knowledge has the state of Washington completely eliminated a statute of limitations for civil action,” Silverman said. “There may be no doubt that a plaintiff experienced horrific abuse, but the question may be difficult or impossible to answer when the perpetrator is dead, the staff at the time is gone, the records haven’t been saved.”
As signed into law, the measure is not retroactive.
Language in the bill reads in part: "There shall be no time limit for bringing any claims or causes of action based on intentional conduct brought by any person for recovery of damages for injury suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse when the act of childhood sexual abuse occurs on or after June 6, 2024."
https://insidestory.org.au/soehartos-australian-whisperer/?fbclid=iwar0yzjr9b9yfj6i6jczgxaat7rbcdjli3c0_15zs5gylkdko0dutgjx4zeg.
soeharto’s australian whisperer.
how a former jehovah’s witness activist became a secret intermediary between the indonesian leader and the west.
How a former Jehovah’s Witness activist became a secret intermediary between the Indonesian leader and the West
For decades the outside world tried to understand Soeharto, the little-known Indonesian army general who emerged from Jakarta’s shadowy putsch attempt of 30 September 1965, seized power from the ailing independence leader Sukarno and obliterated the army’s communist opponents by orchestrating mass slaughter.
It took a while for diplomats to realise they had a window into the mind of this reticent figure courtesy of a Westerner — an Australian, in fact —who had become part of Soeharto’s household a decade before these events and was to remain a key intermediary between the general and the West until Soeharto stepped down in 1998. In the words of an American diplomat in Jakarta at that time, Clive Williams was Soeharto’s “Australian whisperer.”
But as former Australian diplomat Shannon Smith writes in his intriguing biography, Occidental Preacher, Accidental Teacher, Williams’s role was kept largely secret from the public for more than fifty years. “Those who knew him in an official capacity are confined to several dozen international diplomats, journalists and politicians, and they had national interest, and sometimes self-interest, in keeping his name, his position and his role out of the public spotlight,” says Smith. The man himself would divulge only that he came from Geelong. “Beyond that, to every single person who ever came across Clive Williams, he was a puzzle, a riddle, a mystery, an enigma.”
So who was Clive Williams? How did this cashiered Jehovah’s Witness missionary and self-trained chiropodist become attached to Soeharto? How important was he in the power transition and Soeharto’s long presidency? And what did he know about the manoeuvrings around the night of 30 September 1965? Thanks to exhaustive research, Smith has answers to the first three of these questions, but only a hint about the fourth.
Williams was born in Geelong in 1921 to a family on the edge of survival, his father shattered by two years as a German prisoner of war. His mother died when he was sixteen, robbing him of close emotional support just as he was coming to the realisation that he was homosexual.
Feeling “hunted” in Geelong, Smith conjectures, Williams needed somewhere to “hide in plain sight.” He found it as a Jehovah’s Witness. Though the sect had only about 2000 followers in Australia, it was well known thanks to its early adoption of new technologies. Sound vans cruising the streets, radio broadcasts, pamphlets and foot-in-the-door house calls — all these were used pushed its millenarian belief that Christ would soon return to Earth and replace all worldly governments with a paradise populated only by Witnesses.
The group was unpopular, of course, and as Australia entered the second world war it was also suspect for its pacifism. Its eventual banning in 1941 added to the attraction for Williams. “An ardent, proselytising Jehovah’s Witness must have felt a real adrenalin rush pitting themself against community standards, breaking laws, and actively seeking pushback or confrontation,” Smith thinks. “Living in a society where one felt pressure for being ‘other’ or ‘less,’ such as a homosexual, it would have been an ideal outlet for barely twenty-year-old Williams to fight back, especially where the attention was on one’s religious beliefs not sexuality.”
Having started out as a self-supporting “pioneer” roaming the towns in a sound-van, Williams graduated to a central role in the Jehovah’s Witnesses headquarters in Sydney, got exempted from call-up as a religious minister even as the sect continued to operate semi-underground, and then, in 1950, gaining induction into the sect’s global training centre, Gilead, in upstate New York. The following year, when his class was dispatched as missionaries, he landed in Manado, the province in the north of Indonesia’s Sulawesi island.
Williams lasted not quite three years in that role. Smith found a cryptic reference in the sect’s records for 1954 — “During the course of the year it became necessary to disfellowship a person from the congregation for unchristian conduct” — but Williams was otherwise expunged from the sect’s history books. He might have been expelled for attending more to charity than conversions, Smith generously observes, but his sexuality seems a more likely cause.
Aged thirty-six, Williams then moved to Semarang in Central Java, taking with him a younger Manadonese man. “It was also a good place to lose oneself or, indeed, hide from view. A place to shake off a religion and find some spirituality, to conceal sexuality, and to reset,” Smith writes. “Over the next few years, Williams delved into Javanese culture, became fluent in the local languages and established a series of lifelong friendships. Like many who enter witness protection, he emerged with a new identity.”
Despite his humble schooling, Williams had always been well spoken, had become a confident speaker from years as a missionary, and no longer had a mission to convert the local Muslims. He quickly tapped into the immense demand for English-language tuition in the new nation, particularly among upper-echelon Indonesians who could pay for classes and textbooks.
Word of Williams’s activities reached Tien Soeharto, wife of the rising army officer. The two struck up a rapport: “he delighted her with his demonstrations of Western etiquette and customs, he became the couples’ English tutor, and like most Australians, he was practical and handy at fixing things (including cutting her in-grown toenails).” Clive also followed international affairs: “he had travelled to London and New York! And his knowledge about the human condition, gained from travelling around the cities and isolated communities of Australia and his missionary work, was extremely broad. To the inward-looking Javanese couple, Williams was a revelation.” READ MORE: https://insidestory.org.au/soehartos-australian-whisperer/?fbclid=IwAR0YzJr9b9YFJ6i6jCzGXaat7RBcdJlI3C0_15ZS5Gylkdko0DutgJx4ZEg
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512321/jehovah-s-witness-church-takes-case-over-abuse-in-care-ruling-to-court-of-appeal?fbclid=iwar0ipoxydannpkym0rbwj-0ffxcmauhknchpvhql2l0azq4-garjfiihsqa.
the court of appeal has reserved its decision in the jehovah's witness church's case challenging the abuse in care inquiry.. in wellington on thursday the church appealed a high court ruling that dismissed its claim to be excluded from the investigation.. the public gallery was packed with members of the church and abuse survivors.. lawyer sarah jerebine began the appeal by challenging the royal commission's decision to extend the inquiry's scope from institutional care to trust-based relationships between authority figures and children.. "it becomes a person with authority, not authority to care but just authority, can assume responsibility for a trust-based relationship.
we say that is something quite different to what was intended and understood by what this commission would be looking at.".
The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision in the Jehovah's Witness Church's case challenging the Abuse in Care inquiry.
In Wellington on Thursday the church appealed a High Court ruling that dismissed its claim to be excluded from the investigation.
The public gallery was packed with members of the church and abuse survivors.
Lawyer Sarah Jerebine began the appeal by challenging the Royal Commission's decision to extend the inquiry's scope from institutional care to trust-based relationships between authority figures and children.
"It becomes a person with authority, not authority to care but just authority, can assume responsibility for a trust-based relationship. We say that is something quite different to what was intended and understood by what this Commission would be looking at."
Jerebine argued the extension was unlawful because it went beyond the original purpose of the inquiry and the Commission's powers.
She said the appellant wanted the court to publicly declare that illegality.
But the legal team representing the government and the Commission argued extending the scope of the inquiry was not unusual.
Andrew Butler KC said government inquiries evolved over time.
"People look at the terms of inquiry as they're evolving dynamic beasts, for want of a phrase, where the scope does not always stay where it opened on day one."
He said expanding the scope had benefited the victims of many faith-based institutions.
The secondary argument by the Jehovah's Witnesses was that the official amendment order to extend the scope was made with improper motive by the government.
It said that motive was to target the church and interfere with their court proceedings.
Butler KC said that was not true.
He said the commission intended to clarify the scope to allow survivors from any faith to come forward and to serve the strong public interest in the inquiry.
"Particularly for the sake of survivors who continue to wait for the final report and progress on the government's redress work programme."
The appeal comes after the High Court decision in October 2023 to dismiss the Jehovah's Witnesses legal bid to get out of being included in the inquiry.
The church maintains it should be exempt because it did not run institutions that cared for children or vulnerable people.
In her judgement at the time Justice Ellis argued the church could not avoid scrutiny.
Jerebine said the faith was not avoiding being investigated, instead it was challenging errors of law.
Justices Cooper, Goddard and Cooke said the court would make a judgment as soon as possible.
Survivors react
Former Jehovah's Witness elder turned advocate Shayne Mechen was at the hearing and hoped the appeal would be quashed.
He said the faith was avoiding being looked into.
"Not only here, but every other country that is involved in court cases, they are trying to avoid having scrutiny on what they consider is their right and their organisation.
"Jehovah's Witnesses will nitpick the law and care very little about the abuse survivors, whether it's mentally, physically or sexually, they don't care."
Mechen said the appeal was frustrating for victims of abuse by the church and was a waste of time and money.
Another survivor Steve Winyard said when people chose to leave the Jehovah's Witnesses they were treated badly.
"I think it [the court case] needs to go ahead a bit more because other countries are coming down on the Jehovah's Witnesses for shunning families.
"Jehovah's Witness parents are kicking their kids out of home at a very young age as soon as they no longer want to be witnesses."
He wanted the court to take a strong stance against the church's treatment of former members.
https://peticaopublica.com.br/pview.aspx?pi=br137007.
petition against ostracism practiced by jehovah's witnesses.
public petition: against ostracism practiced by jehovah's witnesses.
https://bnnbreaking.com/world/brazil/ex-jehovahs-witnesses-in-brazil-fight-against-social-ostracism-and-seek-dialogue.
discover the stories of jefferson alexandrino de lima and fabiano de amo, who challenge the practice of shunning in religious communities.
their experiences shed light on the need for dialogue, respect, and inclusivity.. in 2008, jefferson alexandrino de lima's life took a significant turn after joining the jehovah's witnesses in pernambuco, brazil.
In 2008, Jefferson Alexandrino de Lima's life took a significant turn after joining the Jehovah's Witnesses in Pernambuco, Brazil. Embracing the faith fully, he ascended to roles of responsibility within the community, dedicating years to its service. Yet, by 2020, questioning internal guidelines led to a drastic change, marking the beginning of his social ostracization. This experience of being treated as deceased by friends, family, and community leaders pushed Lima, now a psychology graduate, to explore the depths of 'Religious ostracism and depression' in his academic thesis. Concurrently, Fabiano de Amo, sharing a similar journey of faith and exit, initiated a virtual petition advocating for the rights and respectful treatment of disaffiliated members.
https://bnnbreaking.com/world/brazil/ex-jehovahs-witnesses-in-brazil-fight-against-social-.
february 28, 2024. discover the stories of jefferson alexandrino de lima and fabiano de amo, who challenge the practice of shunning in religious communities.
their experiences shed light on the need for dialogue, respect, and inclusivity.
https://bnnbreaking.com/world/brazil/ex-jehovahs-witnesses-in-brazil-fight-against-social-
February 28, 2024
In 2008, Jefferson Alexandrino de Lima's life took a significant turn after joining the Jehovah's Witnesses in Pernambuco, Brazil. Embracing the faith fully, he ascended to roles of responsibility within the community, dedicating years to its service. Yet, by 2020, questioning internal guidelines led to a drastic change, marking the beginning of his social ostracization. This experience of being treated as deceased by friends, family, and community leaders pushed Lima, now a psychology graduate, to explore the depths of 'Religious ostracism and depression' in his academic thesis. Concurrently, Fabiano de Amo, sharing a similar journey of faith and exit, initiated a virtual petition advocating for the rights and respectful treatment of disaffiliated members.
https://libn.com/2024/03/04/jehovahs-witnesses-investing-more-than-50m-on-woodbury-project/.
long island business news.
march 4, 2024. the christian congregation of jehovah’s witnesses, which bought the former geico property in woodbury for $27 million in dec. 2022, plans to spend at least another $23 million to build an assembly hall and two support buildings on about half of the site.
https://libn.com/2024/03/04/jehovahs-witnesses-investing-more-than-50m-on-woodbury-project/
LONG ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS
March 4, 2024
The Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, which bought the former GEICO property in Woodbury for $27 million in Dec. 2022, plans to spend at least another $23 million to build an assembly hall and two support buildings on about half of the site.
The development plans include construction of a 52,400-square-foot assembly hall, a 3,900-square-foot maintenance building and a 2,500-square-foot residence on about 9.74 acres on the southern portion of the 20-acre property at 750 Woodbury Road, according to the organization’s site plan application to the town.
The Wallkill, N.Y.-based religious organization is also selling a 10.23-acre parcel of the site that fronts Woodbury Road. The group plans to eventually demolish the existing 235,635-square-foot office building, which GEICO had occupied for half a century, but the office building will remain in place during construction of the three new buildings to serve as an administrative hub, a place to feed volunteers at the site, and obscure construction activity to limit any disruption to the community, according to Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesman Robert Hendriks. READ MORE:
https://libn.com/2024/03/04/jehovahs-witnesses-investing-more-than-50m-on-woodbury-project/
