Russia's Supreme Court has ruled Jehovah's Witnesses is an "extremist" organisation after the justice ministry applied for an order to shut down the group's national headquarters near St Petersburg, Russian news agencies report.
Russian authorities have put several of the group's publications on a list of banned extremist literature, and prosecutors have long cast it as an organisation that destroys families, fosters hatred and threatens lives, a description the organisation says is false.
"They pose a threat to the rights of the citizens, public order and public security," justice ministry attorney Svetlana Borisova told the court.
The church plans to appeal the decision, threatening to take Russia to the European Court of Human Rights if it has to.
There are around 175,000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia.
Reuters
