MOSCOW, Russia - A Moscow court was expected to hand down its verdict Friday in a more than two-year legal battle to ban the local activities of the Jehovah's Witnesses, threatening the organization's existence in Russia.
"If the judge decides to ban us, it would be a political decision," Yaroslav Sivulsy, a member of the religious organization, told AFP, adding that the Russian Orthodox Church had "put pressure on the court."
The U.S.-based sect is accused of breaking up families, inciting their members to suicide and threatening the life and health of adherents by banning blood transfusions.
The court case against the Moscow branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses began in September 1998 after a complaint was lodged by parents of members of the movement.
The case was suspended on March 12 1999, when the court tasked five experts in religion, psychology and linguistics to conduct a study into the literature published by the community.
The trial resumed on February 6 this year. Four of the five experts have declared themselves against the movement.
Last year the United States condemned religious intolerance in Russia, claiming violence and harassment was directed against Jews, members of the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons).
Washington notably criticized a 1997 law declaring Russia's five traditional religions to be Christian Orthodoxy in first place, traditional forms of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism, and forbidding "proselytism" by other faiths.
Since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia's Orthodox Church has denounced the Jehovah's Witnesses for aggressively recruiting members.
The Jehovah's Witnesses say they have nearly 250,000 followers in Russia, including 10,000 in Moscow. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse)