On January 31, 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), having considered seven complaints from Jehovah’s Witnesses from Russia, recognized the disruption of worship services from 2010 to 2014 as a violation of fundamental freedoms. The ECHR ruled to pay compensation to the applicants in the amount of 345,773 EUR and another 5,000 EUR as legal costs.

What Happened?

This case concerns the disruption of religious meetings in 17 regions of Russia, as well as searches, confiscation of literature and personal belongings, and several cases of detention with personal searches.

Law enforcement officers, sometimes armed and wearing masks, would brake into the buildings where worship services of Jehovah’s Witnesses were being conducted. The actions of law enforcement officers were justified by technicalities, for example, by the fact that the meetings were organized without prior notice to the authorities. The security forces either demanded that the event be stopped or remained on the premises and filmed what was happening using photo and video equipment, after which they interrogated those present.

On several occasions, police raided places of worship, including private residences. The search warrants did not provide specific grounds. They only stated that the buildings may contain “evidence relevant to the criminal case.”

“The applicants unsuccessfully pleaded with [the police] to postpone the search until after the end of the religious services.” Several similar cases are described in the ECtHR decision (§ 4).

The victims appealed against the actions of the security forces in local courts, but their demands were not satisfied.

ECtHR Decision

The European Court concluded that the actions of the Russian authorities violated Article 9 of the Convention on Human Rights, which declares the fundamental right to participate in peaceful religious assemblies.

Here are excerpts from the judgment of the ECtHR.

“ The disruption of a religious assembly by the authorities and sanctioning of the applicants for holding ‘unauthorized’ religious events amounts to ‘interference by a public authority’ with the applicants’ right to manifest their religion.” (§ 9)

“The Court has previously noted the consistent case-law of Russia’s Supreme Court that religious meetings, even those conducted on rented premises, did not require prior authorization from, or notice to, the authorities . . . [the applicants’]  conviction did not have a clear... legal basis and was not ‘prescribed by law.’” (§ 10)

“It is undisputed that all religious assemblies were peaceful in their nature and were not likely to cause any disturbance or danger to the public order. Their disruption . . . did not pursue a ‘pressing social need’ and therefore not ‘necessary in a democratic society.’” §·11)

“The Court finds that the search warrants had been couched in extremely broad terms... They did not specify why the particular premises were targeted, what it was that the police expected to find there and what relevant and sufficient reasons justified the need to conduct the search.” (§·12)

What Does the Decision of the European Court Mean? 

Although the cases reviewed by the ECHR dealt with events prior to the ban on Russian legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2017, hundreds of criminal cases filed since then have treated the joint discussion of the Holy Scriptures as a crime.

Yaroslav Sivulskiy, representative of the European Association of Jehovah’s Witnesses, commented on the decision of the ECHR: “The ECHR once again emphasized that there is not and cannot be anything extremist in the religious meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The same was recognized by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Russia; however, some Russian courts continue to act contrary to these rulings, putting Jehovah’s Witnesses behind bars merely because of their religion.” 

More than 60 applications from those who suffered from the repressive campaign against Russian Jehovah’s Witnesses are awaiting the European Court’s decision.

In June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights recognized the liquidation of legal entities of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia as illegal and demanded that the criminal prosecution of believers be stopped and that all those imprisoned for their faith be released.

German scientist and inventor Rudolf Diesel patented the famous engine that bears his name on February 23, 1893.

The first functioning engine was made by Diesel at the Augsburg Engineering Works (since 1904 MAN) in 1897. The engine power was 20 hp. c. at 172 rpm, efficiency 26.2% at a weight of 5 tons.

In the beginning, the “diesel” engine known today was actually powered by vegetable oils, mostly peanut oil.

On January 1, 1898, a factory for the production of diesel engines was founded.

The engine finds rapid application in ships, locomotives, power plants, oil wells. The first ship with a diesel engine was built in 1903.

In 1908, the first small engine was made for locomotives and trucks. In 1936, a passenger car with a diesel engine (Mercedes-Benz-260D) was put into series production for the first time.

On September 29, 1913, Rudolf Diesel set off on the steamship “Dresden” from the Belgian port of Anvers for England, but mysteriously disappeared. Ten days later, fishermen found his body.

The world is losing an undeniable genius!

Diesel’s creation is the most popular means of propulsion for cars, industrial machines, agricultural machinery, ships, and its modernization continues within the third century.

The Patriarchate of Alexandria has officially released its response to a journalistic question of the Russian agency “News.ru” regarding the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa, and more specifically in Kenya, where Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria recently made a pastoral visit.

The question to the Patriarchate is as follows: “The Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church has registered in Kenya. This became known only during the visit of His Holiness the Patriarch of Alexandria to Kenya. How does the Patriarchate of Alexandria perceive the activities of the Russian Church in Kenya? As well as the activity of the Russian Church in Africa in general. How does the Patriarchate of Alexandria feel about this? Thank you”.

Here is the answer of the Church of Alexandria:

“The Moscow Patriarchate, driven by extremely authoritarian tendencies to dominate the whole of Orthodoxy, wanting to rule unilaterally and destroying the entire theological and canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church, appeared in Africa cunningly, like a thief in the night, ignoring the centuries-old church institutions and the sacred canons of the whole Church under the sky. Above all, this reveals her own unhealthy spiritual course and the ecclesiological deviation from Orthodox accepted norms.

The actions of the Moscow Patriarchate outside the limits of its ecclesiastical jurisdiction inflict a wound on the fraternal, unanimous and blameless beginning of our Orthodox faith and certainly contribute negatively to the denigration of Orthodoxy. The Moscow Patriarchate, motivated also by the burdens of its traumatic past and the extremely selfish ways of acting from other times, is in a close embrace with the state and with the political aspirations of the rulers of the Russian state, which wants at any cost to create spheres of influence in Africa as well . History teaches us that the results of such a course are always very painful for the Orthodox Russian people.

The Patriarchate of Alexandria will continue to serve all of Africa, where the apostolic heritage, the sacred canons and history have assigned it, always with the suffering African people in mind and with the unshakable faith that the work of evangelization and the reconciliation of peoples will not stop because its roots are apostolic, and it is not an ephemeral, self-centered or power-hungry ecclesiastical-political game. For the Church of Alexandria, the African brother is a living and sacred image of God, not an impersonal being to be used, exploited and oppressed for one’s self-vindication.

From the office of the Patriarchate of Alexandria”.