in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
13:18
Novakov draws attention to the fact that the term structural subdivision is defined in the title of the relevant chapter of the law. The concept of "structural unit" is relevant only to political parties.
13:25
Court announces a break until 12 April 2017 10:00.
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
12:52
Statement by the representative of Maxim Novakov. His speech is devoted to the analysis of the so-called "new facts of extremist activity", to which the Ministry of Justice refers in its suit. We are talking about fines imposed on several MPOs because of the discovery of extremist materials in liturgical buildings.
13:06
The management center was not involved in business, so it did not have an effective opportunity to raise the issue of provocations. Meanwhile, no evidence for the court can have established strength. Judicial orders for imposition of fines can not have prejudicial force. Otherwise, this would be a violation of the right to a fair trial. Decisions referenced by the court are beautiful closed "boxes", but the content of these "boxes" is not so intuitive. To have a holistic picture and give an objective assessment, the court must assess the circumstances of what happened. The riot police rush into the services, throw all the men to the floor, they were not allowed to even raise their heads, while unknown men move uncontrollably through the building. The cameras recorded how the OMON stormed a liturgical building and police officers tossed illegal materials into the cabinet, and then they were "discovered."
13:12
Novakov tells an interesting detail, recently found in the materials of one case. It turned out that on one of the thrown publications there is an inscription testifying that this publication belongs to one of the Orthodox anti-sectarian centers!
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
12:43
Toporov wondered why the overwhelming majority, more than 380 MROs of Russia, who never received any claims from the state, should be eliminated, even without any warning and the opportunity to change something? In the case there are hundreds and hundreds of results of inspections of various departments that did not reveal any violations in the activities of all these LROs. 22 Crimean MPO, registered under Russian law and not having committed any violations, are perplexed, for what they should be recognized as extremist, and their property confiscated? Why is the Moscow MRO, registered under the order of the ECHR and not having committed a single offense, should be subjected to such severe sanctions?
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
If this was the real truthful situation then if a member of any JW congregation committed a 'sin' with a member of another JW congregation then the body of elders in each congregation could do nothing about. Why? Each congregation is its own religion and not related to others.
Just to confirm here, in the Registered trust deed of my congregation, they have mentioned that the congregation adheres to the biblical teaching and doctrines of the Ecclesiastical Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and that they are responsible to the creator, Jehovah God. No mention about the country's branch office. So legally, my congregation has no relation with the local branch office.
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
12:37
Toporov explains that centralized and local organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses are not responsible for each other's obligations. The Center is not the founder of any of the LROs. Each of them has its own membership of founders of 10 or more citizens. Each LRO has its own unique name, its own charter, detached property, the right to enter into civil-law contracts. Referring to the judge, Toporov cites an analogy: the entire judicial system of Russia is a single structure, but the regional courts are not structural subdivisions of the Supreme Court, but are independent institutions.
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
12:17
Representative of the Axes: The Ministry of Justice encourages the Supreme Judiciary of the country to resort to double standards. Earlier, the court, with the support of the Ministry of Justice, held a consistent position that decisions against local organizations did not affect the rights of the Management Center. Now the position of the ministry has changed to the exact opposite. It is trying to extend the sanctions imposed on several local organizations to the center and to all the other 395 local religious organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses.
12:22
Toporov analyzes the legal meaning of the concept of "entering the structure of a centralized organization". Referring to the legislation, statutes and legal opinions, Toporov shows that we are talking only about the canonical, spiritual connection. Local religious organizations are not branches and representations of a centralized organization.
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
That's correct. The banned extremist material was actually seized by customs before it was technically imported. The JWs ran numerous articles on this criticizing the Ministry of Justice for seizing the material.
I'm not sure. Have JW's tried to import literature into Russia after they had been declared as extremist? Or is it that Russia blocked the shipment, sent it to the experts and then declared them as extremist?
On jw.org,
On July 14, 2015, Russian customs officials took an unprecedented step against Jehovah’s Witnesses by denying importation of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, published by the Witnesses in the Russian language. Since March 2015, Russian authorities have stopped all shipments of the Witnesses’ religious publications, even though none of the literature intended for import is banned in Russia.
https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/russia/russia-blocks-bibles-20150721/
The timeline of the literature seizing done by Russia:
https://www.jw.org/en/news/legal/by-region/russia/censorship-russian-bibles-literature/
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
11:55
Lawyer Zhenkov documents that the printed materials were never imported into the country after they were recognized as extremist. This also applies to all episodes that the Ministry of Justice imputes to believers in their lawsuit.
12:05
When almost every publication in the country was imported to the center of Jehovah's Witnesses, there were results of examinations that did not reveal any signs of extremism in them. Thus, the center could not foresee that these or other materials can be considered extremist. Legislation is based on the principles of legal certainty and predictability of the consequences of certain actions. However, in the actions of state bodies against Jehovah's Witnesses, this principle is clearly not observed.
12:10
Speech representative Respondent Toporov. "The extremism of Jehovah's Witnesses remains extremism on paper." No victims, victims or victims of alleged "extremist" activities, either the Prosecutor's Office or the Justice Ministry could not have imagine
12:12
Toporov refutes the thesis of the Ministry of Justice on "financing of extremism". The financial aid directed by the LRO was directed to the service of liturgical buildings, payment of public utilities, sometimes to help believers who suffered from natural disasters.
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
Laws in Russia were only introduced in 2016 that make it a criminal offence to encourage others to not undertake lawful medical treatment. There have been no cases since the law was introduced which is why the JWs focused on 'no cases'.
If so, then why did the Ministry bring this point up?
in moscow, a soft rain drizzles.
along the facade of the supreme court stretched a large queue of those who came to the process as listeners.
a large bus is parked at the courthouse on povarskaya street, full of obviously bored police officers.
11:39
Zhenkov draws attention to the fact that cases related to the recognition of the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist have been appealed to the ECHR. 22 complaints and combined into one production. In response to a request from the Strasbourg Court, the Russian Federation formally acknowledged that the literature of Jehovah's Witnesses does not contain open calls for violence.
11:45
The Supreme Court repeatedly ruled that the cases of recognizing the materials of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist did not affect the rights of the "Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia", and these decisions were not abolished. And the Ministry of Justice now believes that on the contrary, it affects the rights of the center. But this is a mistake.
