Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses have the right to describe the organization as a “destructive sect” without fear of prosecution, a Spanish court ruled, a rare decision affecting a powerful movement which has the habit of filing complaints against those who denounce its practices.
A Madrid court confirmed on April 16 a first judgment rendered in favor of the Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses (AEAVTJ), finding that its name and its criticisms did not constitute an illegitimate attack on honor, according to this decision of the Provincial Court consulted Tuesday by AFP.
Clearly, the court explicitly validates the right to criticize and denounce the organization’s internal control mechanisms. Contacted by AFP, the latter did not react.
Designating Jehovah’s Witnesses as a “destructive sect”, officially calling oneself a “victim” of them and forming an association including the designation of victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses “is a matter of freedom of expression”, we can read in the judgment which ratifies a first instance judgment dating back to the end of 2023.
Being “harms your health”
Considering that belonging to Jehovah’s Witnesses “harms health, endangers people’s lives or creates victims” also falls under freedom of expression, “even if it is unpleasant or hurtful” for the religious movement, it is also written.
A movement founded in the 1870s in the United States by Charles Russell, Jehovah’s Witnesses consider themselves to be the only ones to restore original Christianity. They are regularly accused of sectarian excesses for their rigorous precepts and the organization does not hesitate to file a complaint against its detractors.
Six Spanish Jehovah’s Witnesses had also initiated legal action against the AEAVTJ contesting the use of the word “victims” in the name of the association and demanding its dissolution.
“This is the first time that, in a country, we have affirmed that we can qualify a religion as a “destructive sect”, even if it is well registered as a religion,” rejoiced Carlos Bardavío, lawyer for the victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses, to AFP.
According to the council, this decision, which can still be appealed to the Spanish Supreme Court, has “international scope”, moreover if it is brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by Jehovah’s Witnesses and ratified there.
