The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has demanded the seizure of property from Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has filed a lawsuit demanding that Jehovah's Witnesses' real estate be transferred to state ownership. The oversight agency expects to seize 123 properties, including residential and commercial premises, as well as land plots in various regions of the country.

Claims against foreign organizations and challenging transactions

The prosecutor's office's claims concern properties located in Moscow, the Moscow and Leningrad regions, the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, and other regions of Russia. The defendants in the lawsuit include religious organizations and foundations registered in Austria, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden, as well as the World Headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States.

Specifically, in its lawsuit, the Prosecutor General's Office requests that dozens of donation and gift agreements concluded in 2016–2017 between Russian Jehovah's Witnesses organizations and foreign entities of the denomination be declared null and void. However, the agency claims that these transactions were made sham—allegedly to prevent the Russian Federation from seizing property after the association was banned.

Prohibition of the organization and persecution of believers

Nevertheless, the Russian Supreme Court banned the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses and declared the religious organization "extremist" back in 2017. In turn, the European Court of Human Rights in 2022 ruled this ban completely unlawful and a violation of fundamental human rights, from freedom of expression to freedom of religion.

As a result, intense pressure on believers remains in the country. According to the Memorial Human Rights Center, over 500 Jehovah's Witnesses are currently being persecuted in Russia.