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Russian Jehovah's Witnesses and Armenian Catholics continue to struggle to

gain registration - and so legal status - from the authorities of the

capital Moscow, Forum 18 News Service has learned. A court has decided not

to change a decision to close the Jehovah's Witnesses Moscow branch -

despite a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling against this.

Jehovah's Witnesses lawyer Artur Leontyev said this "obviously ignored the

ruling of the European Court", and said an appeal will be made. ECtHR

mandated damages and costs have also not been paid to the Jehovah's

Witnesses. Also Moscow's Armenian Catholic congregation continues to be

unable to gain registration. A court hearing was postponed until 11 April,

when the authorities failed to appear. The Armenian Catholics' lawyer,

Vladimir Ryakhovsky of the Slavic Centre for Law and Justice, told Forum 18

beforehand that a negative ruling "would give us the chance to take the

issue to the Constitutional Court and challenge the Religion Law". His

colleague Inna Zagrebina told Forum 18 that nationwide illegal state

interference in communities' internal life is "an integral part of life for

religious organisations".

Full story, http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1548