WOMAN, SON JAILED IN RELIGION CRACKDOWN

Russia sentenced a 69-year-old woman to two years in jail on Wednesday after finding her guilty of taking part in the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a spokesman for the organization said.

Russia’s Supreme Court labelled the Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist” organization in 2017 and ordered it to disband. Since then authorities have detained hundreds of its adherents and convicted dozens on extremism charges.

A court in the Siberian region of Khakassia found Valentina Baranovskaya guilty of taking part in the activities of a banned organization. She is the first woman, and the oldest person, to be jailed under the crackdown on the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Her son, Roman Baranovsky, was handed a six-year sentence.