On July 4, Prosecutor General of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Gunduz Mammadov met with the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Religious Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ukraine Illya Kobel during which the issue of persecution and pressure on believers of the religious organization in the territory of the temporarily occupied peninsula of Crimea was discussed.c
On July 4, Prosecutor General of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Gunduz Mammadov met with the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Religious Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Ukraine Illya Kobel during which the issue of persecution and pressure on believers of the religious organization in the territory of the temporarily occupied peninsula of Crimea was discussed.
This was reported to RISU by the press service of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
In particular, before the onset of temporary occupation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the number of active members was over 7 thousand, and 22 communities were operating.
At present, the activity of this faith on the peninsula is prohibited by the occupation authorities, its supporters are not entitled to assembly, are subjected to violence and purposely called for military service, illegally selected cult premises, completely restricted access to the official site of “Jehovah's Witnesses”.
“All such facts are recorded by the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. In January of this year, the prosecutor's office entered the information to the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations on the grounds of the offense provided for in Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, namely the violation of the laws and customs of war, which are stipulated by international treaties ratified by Ukraine. The pressure from the occupation authorities on religious and ethnic communities is nothing more than a violation of the laws and customs of the war. Persons who commit unlawful actions towards our citizens in the Crimea should be held accountable for this,” Gunduz Mammadov said.
According to him, it is not important for the prosecutor's office what kind of faith confess our citizens, it is important that the ban on the activities of certain denominations or religious organizations forces believers to leave the peninsula against their own will.