(Worthy News) - Evangelical Protestants make up the majority of the 181 cases prosecuted by Russian authorities under the country's notorious 'anti-missionary' laws, which came into force last July, according to a report. Christians were also prosecuted in Crimea, which Russia occupied in 2014.
Norway-based group Forum 18 recorded 181 cases since July 20, 2016, two weeks after the laws were signed by President Vladimir Putin to ban evangelism outside of churches.
Of these prosecutions under Parts 3, 4, and 5 of Administrative Code Article 5.26, as many as 57 cases were against Protestant churches, including Pentecostals; 26 against Baptists; six against people associated with the Gideon's; and three against Seventh-day Adventists.