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Heart and Soul: Russia's persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses

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Russia's persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses

16/10/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, Russia's persecuted Jehovah’s Witnesses

Hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia are currently being prosecuted for their faith

Hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia are currently being prosecuted for their faith.

There are hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia who are being prosecuted for their faith. Some of them say they have been tortured and their testimonies were never investigated. Others have to hide their prayers as they fear the secret services are spying on them through undercover agents. 

The wave of arrests started in 2017 after the Russian Supreme Court declared Jehovah’s Witnesses organisation as extremist and banned all Jehovah’s Witnesses registered groups throughout the country.

Jehovah’s Witnesses renounce violence and do not possess arms, yet criminal cases against them claim they possess extremist materials and peaceful worship has been raided by armed police. 

This programme will follow some of the most dramatic stories told by Jehovah’s Witnesses under prosecution and their family members. Among them is the story of imprisoned man Feliks as told by his wife Zhenya. Upon arrival to his colony Feliks had suffered such an atrocious beating that he spent months recovering in a prison hospital. In May this year he was stripped of his Russian citizenship and became the first Jehovah’s Witness forced into statelessness. We will also hear from Jehovah’s Witnesses who aren’t prosecuted but live in constant expectation of being disturbed by police.

All of them will share how their faiths help them to survive those dark days and how they continue to worship despite being scared and intimidated.

Presenter: Anastasia Gulubeva 
Producer: Tatyana Movshevich

(Picture: Feliks Makhammadiev /Credit: jw-russia.org)

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