Jehovah’s Witnesses denounce their ‘dissidents’ after creating the Association of Victims

Originally published on vozpópuli on 18 Jun 2021 by Laura Fàbregas.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses in Spain have filed a lawsuit in the Torrejón de Ardoz court (Madrid) against the Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses [Asociación Española de Víctimas de los Testigos de Jehová]. According to the lawsuit to which Vozpópuli has had access, they consider that the mere existence of the association undermines their honor by calling themselves “victims” of this religious cult.

In their lawsuit, they [Jehovah’s Witnesses] ask the courts to declare this association, as well as individuals specifically sued, as “illegitimate interference” in the “right to the honor of religious confession.” They also ask for the “elimination” and “extinction” not only of the name of the entity, registered in the National Registry of Associations in February 2020, but also of its social media accounts and its website.

The religious organization [of Jehovah’s Witnesses], headquartered in the Madrid town of Ajalvir, considers that the new association makes an “illegitimate exercise of freedom of expression and information” by making public accusations of alleged cases of abuse and aggression suffered within the religious cult.

"They want to silence us"

The secretary of the Association, Enrique Carmona, explains at the request of vozpóli that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “want to silence our public message” and that their association has the purpose of seeking justice and bringing together all those people who have abandoned the cult due to the alleged malpractice.

The Association’s defense attorney, Carlos Bardavío, is willing to pull the plug to uncover possible cases covered up by the congregation. It will request the practice of statements in court by many witnesses and will provide documentary evidence to “prove” that within the organization there have been many suicide attempts, cases of ostracism and anxiety due to some of the practices that have been carried out. from some of these congregations.

“We are going to provide a number of witnesses and documents so that a counterclaim is made to the lawsuit filed against us and to be able to request damages from Jehovah’s Witnesses for violation of fundamental rights,” the lawyer and author of the doctoral thesis ‘Las sectas in Criminal Law. Dogmatic study of sectarian crimes’.

Ultimately, it is about opening a case within the case so that the plaintiffs are sentenced. This medium has contacted Jehovah’s Witnesses but they have not responded to our request.

Parallel courts

One of the main stumbling blocks of this type of religious confession is that they settle complaints of sexual abuse or physical assault in domestic courts. Many of the people who have left the cult have denounced that they have not been able to defend themselves on equal terms.

This type of court of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is formed by the elders (religious leaders) and to prove any of the crimes, two or more eyewitnesses are required. Something unusual in this type of crime, since they are usually carried out when the victim is alone.

To date, only a court of first instance, in Illescas (Toledo), decided to summon four elders of the congregation to testify in February 2019 after a complaint by an alleged victim of sexual abuse. Now, however, this complaint could become a boomerang for the interests of this cult that brings together more than 7 million faithful around the world. And the role of the new entity can be key.

Since its birth, they have about 150 members. Article 5 of its Statutes mentions that “the extinction” of the Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses “may occur when the organization and members of Jehovah’s Witnesses or any of its brands” comply with the “collaboration with the authorities in the case of denouncing child abusers who exist within the congregations.”

This article of the Statutes is also one of those pointed out by the plaintiffs for linking them to “pedophile activities” and they perceive it as “blackmail” for stating that they will only be dissolved if they comply with such legal obligation to report and collaborate with the authorities. responsible for prosecuting such crimes.

The 'victims' prepare their strategy

The Defense has twenty days before the preview and the start of the trial. But they are convinced that they can prove the existence of “indications of criminality” attributable to Jehovah’s Witnesses and obtain the suspension of the procedure to open a new complaint against the organization.

At the moment, however, they must respond to a lawsuit that requires “compensation for damages and losses” by the Association, without quantifying the payment of the procedural costs in case of conviction and the publication of the ruling of the sentence “with the same public dissemination with which the data that is considered illegitimate interference in the right to honor was released”. That is, on the “various digital platforms” where the Association of Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses carries out its activity.

Bardavío also maintains that it is “difficult to understand” that they sue this Association of a hundred members and not, for example, against chains and stations that have made journalistic reports that are very critical of the way in which complaints are resolved within the confession.

Editor’s Footnotes by Lester Somrah:

The Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses [Asociación Española de Víctimas de los Testigos de Jehová] is registered association with the Registry of Associations of the Ministry of the Interior of Spain (Registration No. 618471).

The Asociación Española is being represented by attorney Dr. Carlos Bardavío. He presently holds a Doctor of Criminal Law, University of Seville and is a professor on the Master’s in Economic Criminal Law at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR) and an expert in criminal sectarianism. Dr. Bardavío is also the author of the book Cults in Criminal Law: Dogmatic Study of Sectarian Crimes.

Lester Somrah

Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.