In April, four former members of Jehovah’s Witnesses said the organization had tried to maintain “total control” over its followers in a testimony before the Supreme Court.
Natalia Koretskaya, who was a member from 1995 to 2009, told the court that “Jehovah’s Witnesses formally monitor that people follow rules and regulations, but in fact, we are talking about total control over one’s personal life, intimate life, education and work.”
The organization, which has 171,000 adherents and 2,315 congregations in Russia, was banned as a result of the trial.
Last week, the independent polling company Levada Center, reported that around 80 percent of Russians support a government ban on Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, more than half of the 1,600 people questioned claimed they knew very little or nothing about the group.