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MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES |
Decisions |
CM/Del/Dec(2021)1419/H46-31 |
2 December 2021 |
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1419th meeting, 30 November – 2 December 2021 (DH)
H46-31 Jehovah’s Witnesses of Moscow and Others (Application No. 302/02) and Krupko and Others (Application No. 26587/07) v. Russian Federation Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments
Reference document |
Decisions
The Deputies
1. recalled that the judgments in cases under consideration mainly concern dissolution of the applicant religious community entailing a ban on its activities, dispersal of a peaceful religious ceremony and the subsequent deprivation of liberty of some of its participants;
2. regretted again the persistent absence of the information and reiterated their call again on the authorities to enter into a genuine dialogue with the Committee on the measures to be taken in this group of cases;
3. stressed once again that freedom of religion constitutes one of the foundations of a democratic society and recalled their serious concerns about the 2017 blanket ban criminalising any participation in the activities of this religious group and its alarming effects, evidenced by different sources that, as a consequence of this ban, members of the religious community of the Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned merely for manifesting their religious beliefs;
4. deplored that the 2017 blanket ban goes entirely against the conclusions and spirit of the Court’s judgments under consideration and consequently urged the authorities to take all necessary measures to re-establish the right of Jehovah’s Witnesses to freedom of religion, such as by reversing the 2017 ban,
re-examining the related criminal cases, as well as reviewing the current anti-extremism legislation;
5. noted the most recent development that on 28 October 2021 the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation issued a Guiding Ruling clarifying that participation in religious events is not subject to criminal punishment, even if the religious organisation is declared extremist and banned, and invited the authorities to provide more detailed information in this respect, including with regard to its application in practice;
6. decided to resume consideration of these cases at one of their DH meetings in 2022.