Believers Forced to Quit Their Businesses in Connection with the Supreme Court Decision Against Jehovah's Witnesses

The Supreme Court's decision to liquidate the organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses, which has not even entered into force yet, caused a flood of violations of the rights of individual believers. At the same time, it is believed that the court did not consider the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses, nor did it resolve the issue of the rights of individuals. Nevertheless, there are reports from all over the country that the management of institutions, especially budgetary ones, initiates the dismissal of employees professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses.

On April 3, 2017, in the village of Ilyinsky (Perm Territory), a believer, an employee of the district administration, was invited to a conversation with her supervisor, during which she was informed that she, as a municipal employee, had no right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite the fact that there are no complaints against the woman regarding the performance of official duties, she was threatened with dismissal with the inability to work in the public sector in the future.

On May 1, 2017, in Smolensk, a woman who works in a cleaning company serving the Federal State Registration Service received a call from a manager and said that another employee would take her place, and she was fired. When asked about the reason, the manager said that this was an order from the management: at work they knew that she professed the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. As a result, a woman raising a child alone was left without a job.

On May 4, 2017, in Yelabuga (Tatarstan), a believer who works for a large energy company was summoned to the police. The woman was stunned to learn that she had received a denunciation in which, with reference to her religion, she was baselessly attributed the intention to use her official position to "carry out terrorist attacks". As a result, the company's security officers demanded that the believer either renounce her religious beliefs or resign.

On May 10, 2017, in the city of Bakhchisarai (Crimea), a woman, an employee of Rospotrebnadzor, was summoned to the prosecutor's office in connection with her religion. The woman refused to give the names of her fellow believers, as a result, she was threatened with dismissal.

On May 16, 2017, it became known that in the Smolensk region, a large city-forming enterprise, at the direction of the FSB, intends to dismiss all Jehovah's Witnesses working on it. Believers are offered to leave "of their own free will", otherwise they are threatened with dismissal under the article. In a conversation with one of the believers, the factory management reported that two FSB officers came to them, who told their superiors that "extremists" could not work at the plant, despite the fact that these employees were very valuable. The believer refused to be dismissed of his own free will.

The Supreme Court's decision also sparked a wave of vandalism against citizens who practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The incidents occurred in St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Kaliningrad, Moscow, Penza, Rostov, Sverdlovsk, Tula regions, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Komi and Udmurtia.