European Court orders Ukraine to pay compensation to Jehovah’s Witnesses

Judges of the European Court of Human Rights. Photo: anticorr.media

On September 3, 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Ukraine to pay €7,000 in compensation to Jehovah’s Witnesses from Kryvyi Rih, according to the court’s official website.

The European Court judges found that the Kryvyi Rih mayor’s office had violated the rights of members of the religious organization when it refused to lease a plot of land to one of their congregations and denied planning permission for the construction of a place of worship.

Jehovah’s Witnesses filed an application with the European Court, arguing that the city council had failed to provide them with a place of worship and had violated their rights. In the application, the religious organization stated that the actions of the mayor’s office contravened Article 1, concerning the protection of property, and Article 9, concerning freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The European Court judges ruled that the mayor’s office had indeed violated these articles. They found that Ukraine must pay Jehovah’s Witnesses €1,000 in non-pecuniary damages and €6,000 in costs and expenses.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Russia’s Presidential Council for Human Rights had spoken out in defense of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

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