Russia releases jailed Danish Jehovah’s Witness, group says

MOSCOW (AP) — A Danish Jehovah’s Witness has been released after spending five years in a Russian prison under Moscow’s crackdown on the religious group, the organization says. Russia officially banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2017, and designated the religious denomination “an extremist organization” in connection to its alleged “propaganda of exclusivity.” Danish member Dennis Christensen, 49, was arrested that year for leading a prayer meeting, and was handed a six-year prison sentence in 2019. In a statement released Tuesday, Jehovah’s Witnesses said Christensen was set to be deported from Russia on Tuesday night. It cited his wife as saying that he is “in a good emotional state.” There was no immediate confirmation from Russian judicial sources.