Crimean court imprisons Jehovah’s Witness for practicing faith

For the second time this year, a Crimean court sentenced a Jehovah’s Witness to prison for practicing his faith.

The Crimean Supreme Court in the Black Sea city of Yalta consigned Artem Gerasimov to a penal colony for six years for peaceful worship. In March, a fellow worshipper — Sergei Filatov — also received a similar sentence under the nation’s extremist laws.

Mr. Gerasimov had appealed a sentence of 400,000 rubles only to receive the harsher penalty.

“This bleak development in Crimea is the latest example of Russia exporting its patently extreme religious intolerance,” said Jarrod Lopes, spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Human rights advocates across the globe have publicly criticized Russia for its baseless attack on Jehovah’s Witnesses, internationally recognized as peaceful, societally responsible Christians.”

Beginning in 2017, Russia listed the Jehovah’s Witnesses as an extremist organization. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014.