Of the 26 items on the updated LPR "State List of Extremist Materials", 18 are published by Protestants (including the 4 latest additions, as well as a Baptist-published edition of the Russian Synodal translation of the Gospel of John), and 6 are Jehovah's Witness-published. Officials at Sverdlovsk City and District Court refused to put Forum 18 through to Judge Natalya Afonicheva, who ruled the books "extremist" on 18 May (see below). No subsequent calls were answered (see below).Ī senior aide at Sverdlovsk's Prosecutor's Office told Forum 18 that the General Prosecutor's Office lodged the suit to have the four books banned as "extremist" after it found them "on our territory, but I'm not informed as to where" (see below).
#Russia bans jw library app 2021 registration
It noted (correctly) that Council of Churches Baptists conduct their activity in the region without Justice Ministry registration (see below).įorum 18 reached Roman Gubaydulin, the acting Deputy General Prosecutor who lodged the suit to have the books declared "extremist", but he put the phone down immediately after questions were asked. A 20 July statement on the General Prosecutor's Office website claimed that the suit against the Council of Churches Baptists was "in the interests of an undetermined circle of people and the Luhansk People's Republic".