Let God's Kingdom Come.

from jw-media.org

Jehovah’s Witnesses blocked from holding two conventions in St. Petersburg due to official interference

Evidence of pressure on facility management from FSB and local authorities

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—The management of the Yubileyny Sports Palace has rescinded a contract with Jehovah’s Witnesses, effectively canceling the two district conventions that the Witnesses were planning to hold there.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have been inviting the public to attend their 2011 “Let God’s Kingdom Come!” conventions throughout the world. Two of these conventions were to be held at the Yubileyny Sports Palace, with an expected combined attendance of 13,000 from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, after the Witnesses finalized a contract with the facility’s management on April 15, 2011.

However, FSB representatives visited the management of the sports complex in late May 2011 and demanded that the contract documents be handed over to them. Shortly thereafter, a letter dated June 2, 2011, and signed by Konstantin Zheludkov, the Head of the Petrogradsky District Administration of St. Petersburg, was sent to the management of the Yubileyny Sports Palace. The letter included arguments against accommodating the conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and statements directing the facility’s management to rescind the contract with the Witnesses.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have a right to hold peaceful religious services and make use of various venues—including sports complexes—for this purpose, in harmony with the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations and the Federal Law on Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation. However, the management of the Yubileyny Sports Complex sent a letter on June 2, 2011, to the Administrative Center of Jehovah’s Witnesses, informing them that the complex will not be available for their conventions, alleging “maintenance” concerns.

Media Contacts:
Russia: Grigory Martynov, tel. +7 812 702 2691
Belgium: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +32 2 782 0015
United States: J. R. Brown, tel. +1 718 560 5600