A Moscow court has seized 123 real estate properties belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses for transfer to the Russian state.
A Moscow court has ordered the seizure of 123 assets belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses, transferring them into Russian state ownership. The assets, which were previously registered under the Swedish branch of the religious group, include 63 residential and commercial properties totaling over 11,000 square metres and 60 plots of land covering 5.6 hectares across the country. This action follows a 2017 ruling by the Russian Supreme Court that designated the Jehovah's Witnesses as an "extremist organisation." Although the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2022 that the ban was unlawful, Russia continues to enforce the restrictions. The seizure is part of a broader crackdown on the group, which has seen hundreds of members imprisoned for "extremist activity." The religious group has faced significant pressure in Russia, where the Orthodox Church is dominant. Recent convictions of members have been based on covert recordings by spies who infiltrated prayer sessions to identify specific meetings deemed "extremist."