Jehovah’s Witnesses appear “perplexed” for the sentence that protects them as a “sect” and they will resort

Jehovah's Witnesses have been "perplexed and dismayed" by the ruling of the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 6 of Torrejón de Ardoz that has determined that freedom of expression protects what can be described as a "destructive sect" to the religious denomination Jehovah's Christian Witnesses of Spain and "victims" to its former members; and they have announced that they will appeal the sentence.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are quite perplexed and dismayed to see that the judge has deliberately ignored the documentary and testimonial evidence that we presented at the hearings. Authorized scientific studies and decisions of international courts, including the European Courts of Human Rights, have clearly demonstrated the falsehood of the serious accusations of Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses (AEVTJ),”, Jehovah’s Witnesses have pointed out in an official statement collected by Europa Press.

Although Jehovah’s Witnesses point out the they “deeply” freedom of expression, they consider “scandalous” the “baseless accusations by the AEVTJ that present Jehovah’s Witnesses as a criminal organization” and they say that “they cannot rely on freedom of expression”.

Therefore, they see “questionable”, the judicial decision and warn that it “radically contrasts” with the two recent sentences handed down by another judge from Torrejón de Ardoz.

In his opinion, the court has not taken into account that “there is not a single conviction in Spain” to confirm the veracity of the accusations made by the AEVTJ.

In this sense, Jehovah’s Witnesses denounce that “false accusations” of the AEVTJ “foster hatred, discrimination and unjustified prejudice against the religious minority of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses remember that they have been present in Spain for more than one hundred years and enjoy legal recognition of well-established roots. Furthermore, they highlight that the European Courts of Human Rights (ECHR), which defines them as a “known religion”, has issued “more than seventy rulings in their favor, making it clear that their religious practices are totally legitimate.”