Jehovah’s Witnesses say that a member of a banned religious denomination in Russia was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, the most severe punishment in several cases.
MOSCOW – Jehovah’s Witnesses say a member of a banned religious denomination in Russia has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, the most severe punishment in several cases.
The European denomination’s office said 63-year-old Alexander Ivashin was sentenced on Wednesday in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region.
Authorities said he conducted religious discussions with friends in another city via a video link. Russia banned Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2017 and declared the religious group an extremist organization.
Currently, 46 members are in prison and 27 under house arrest, the denomination says.