Russia is currently trying to declare the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an 'extremist group', a case that is currently before the country’s Supreme Court.Russian authorities have been on the warpath with the group for a long time. Many of its landmark publications are banned in the country and officials deem the group ‘a pernicious cult’.

The state’s Justice Department applied for a permit to shut down the Witnesses’ headquarters in St Petersburg.The court will convene in April to hear the case, and would have final say on whether the group qualifies to be dubbed an extremist one under a controversial 2006 law.

“If this lawsuit is successful, it will entail catastrophic consequences for freedom of religious worship in Russia.”

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