Freedom of Religion and Belief
RUSSIA: New records in 2022 in the campaign of persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses The European Times (29.12.2022) – This year, Russian courts sentenced over 40% more Jehovah’s Witnesses (45) to prison than last year (32). This resulted in a peak of 115...
Freedom of Religion and Belief
FRANCE:“Église de Philadelphie”: How MIVILUDES and French anti-cultists invented a “cult” In 2011, the wife and four children of a French aristocrat were murdered. Anti-cultists tried to connect the crime with “cults.” Their legal case has now collapsed. By Massimo...
Freedom of Religion and Belief
European Court of Human Rights: governments should not call minority religions “cults” The Court ruled in favor of three Bulgarian Evangelical churches, and said its case law has “evolved” since it refused to censor two French report on “cults” in 2001. By Massimo...
Freedom of Religion and Belief
ERITREA: Three Catholic clergymen released from arbitrary detention CSW and Human Rights Concern Eritrea (HRCE) welcome the releases of three Catholic clergymen who were detained arbitrarily by the Eritrean authorities in separate incidents in October 2022, despite...
Freedom of Religion and Belief
CHINA:USCIRF charges China’s authorized religious bodies as Communist Party accomplices A new report exposes the five authorized religions’ “complicity in the government’s systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.” By Massimo Introvigne...
Freedom of Religion and Belief
NORWAY: Oslo District Court suspends de-registration of Jehovah’s Witnesses A draconian and unjust decision by the County Governor of Oslo and Viken has been blocked by quick judicial intervention. The fight, however, continues. By Massimo Introvigne Bitter...