Russian court bans Jehovah's Witnesses from Moscow

MOSCOW -- A Moscow court has banned the religious activities of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Russian capital in a move that critics called a step back for democracy and religious freedom.

Prosecutors claimed Jehovah's Witnesses destroys families and fosters hatred. Moscow's Golovinsky district court on Friday granted their request that it be outlawed in the capital under a provision that allows courts to ban religious groups considered to incite hatred or intolerant behavior.

John Burns, a Canadian attorneyfor the group, pledged to appeal the decision to higher Russian courts and to pursue it in the European Court of Human Rights.

Defense attorney Galina Krylova argued that the decision has no legal foundation as the prosecutor simply cited the denomination's religious literature.

"The activities of Jehovah's Witnesses weren't the subject of the court trial ... the subject was the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses ... doctrinal arguments," Krylova said.

The U.S. State Department also criticized the decision.

"We deplore the recent decision ... to ban the religious activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow and to liquidate their legal entity," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday in Washington.

Russia's 1997 religion law enshrines Orthodox Christianity as the country's predominant religion and pledges respect for Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, but places restrictions on other groups.

Christian Presber, a spokesman for Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, expressed concern about the ramifications of the court's decision for communities outside Moscow.

"We anticipate it's going to unleash a whole plethora of new attempts by local and regional authorities to impede our activities," Presber said.

Also Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he favored drafting a bill on state support "to the spiritual leaders of traditional religious confessions," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.