Prosecutors in Asbest, Russia (Sverdlovsk region) have charged local Jehovah's Witnesses with inciting religious hatred and have asked a court to brand their publications extremist materials, according to a June 24, 2008 report by the Interfax news agency. Investigators determined that the publications present a negative image of the dominant Russian Orthodox Church. Legal cases against Jehovah's Witnesses have become more frequent in Russia after a Moscow court outlawed them on spurious charges, but by openly abusing anti-incitement and anti-extremism laws, the Asbest prosecutor's office is taking a relatively rare path.

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