Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses group

MOSCOW, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The Russian Supreme Court's judicial chamber for civil cases has upheld a ban against a southern Russian branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses, authorities say.

That court rejected an appeal against a previous court's ruling which declared a branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses in the southern Russian city of Taganrog to be an extremist organization, RIA Novosti said Tuesday.

The ruling effectively bans the group's activities in southern Russia, and places approximately 34 books handed out by the organization on the national list of extremist literature. An office building, a plot of land and other property belonging to the group was also taken, the agency reported.

Before the court handing down the decision, the group said in a statement on its Web site, the ruling "could set a precedent not only for Jehovah's Witnesses, but for believers of all confessions. It would be the first time internationally recognized Christian literature was censored in Russia."

On Tuesday, a regional prosecutor told the Supreme Court that some of the publications distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses "contain offensive comments," such as Christianity is a "false religion."

The group has 300,000 followers in Russia. They are banned in Moscow and in many former Soviet republics, the agency said.