United Nations steps in to demand group’s religious freedom

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia are currently being persecuted and severely mistreated.

This is a sad fact that is recognised by everyone including the United Nations, who want the religious group to have their freedom.

According to World Religion News, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has stepped in to demand the immediate release of Teymur Akhmedov.

[No available link text]

He is a Jehovah’s Witness that is currently jailed in Kazakhstan. Akhmedov was arrested in January for “incitement of religious hatred.” He has been in jail since then and sentenced to a 5-year prison term.

WGAD has been very critical about the arrest, the legal proceedings, arguing that Mr Akhmedov was not given a fair trial in its conclusion published on October 2, 2017.

ALSO READ: 5 terrible ways Jehovah's Witnesses has been mistreated since Russia’s ban

According to WGAD, this legislation “presents a serious threat to the full enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion in Kazakhstan” and that “the present case of Mr. Akhmedov is a testament to the reality of this threat.”

The WGAD also added that the religious activity of Mr. Akhmedov was “entirely peaceful” and that the government “has not provided an example of a single violent action or incitement of others to violence by Mr. Akhmedov.”

The group also stressed that the government “has not explained how mere meetings with others and peaceful religious discussions amounted to such a crime.”

"It is clear to the Working Group that Mr. Akhmedov did nothing more than exercise his right to freedom of religion under article 18 of the Covenant,” the WGAD stated.

These things have made the WGAD call for the immediate release of Akhmedov, adding that the appropriate remedy “would be to release Mr. Akhmedov immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.”

Kazakhstan is also advised to change its laws and practices in order to avoid repeating the mistreatment of Mr. Akhmedov.

According to jw.org, the official website of Jehovah Witnesses, the group is glad that Akhmedov’s is being recognised internationally. They also look forward to the immediate release of Mr. Akhmedov.

Cases like this have earned the nation the number one position on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom‘s worst religious freedom violators in 2017.