It has been confirmed by Rizwana Yedicam, the information adviser for the Communications Department of the Supreme Court of Norway, that the upcoming Trial between Jehovah's Witnesses and the Norwegian State will be live-streamed for the public to watch day-by-day.
Miss Usato was emailed this morning in response to a few of her previous emails regarding the request. Thanks to Jan Nilsen, u/FrodeKommode, for providing the information and also communicating with them to make this happen.
Norways Supreme Court: Høyesteretts plass 1, 0180 Oslo, Norway
The trial will be held on February 4-6, 2026, in the Supreme Court, which means the final decision will be a landmark ruling. So once it issues a ruling, that decision is final and binding -there's no higher Norwegian court to appeal to.
This means if Jehovah's Witnesses lose in the Supreme Court, they cannot appeal within Norway again. They will no longer have the same legal recognition as other religions, will lose public funding, and be publicly marked as a group that the Norwegian Government deems harmful.
This is one of the first major European cases of a Government denying freedom of religion due to its harmful internal practices. The authorities argue that the Jehovah's Witnesses' practices of pressuring people, violating the right to freedom and belief by not being able to freely leave without losing their friends and family, and harming children emotionally, conflict with Norway's Children's Rights laws and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The religion was denied state financial grants because of this, and it's been a battle between them since.
We will attempt to have AvoidJW live-stream the trial on our homepage, and also translate it with a program in English. If this is not attainable, u/byMissUsato, who recently made a new Reddit, will be providing articles with links, continuing: "The Price We Pay," The Norway Trial," along with u/Larchington, a major help on releasing the trials day-to-day updates on Reddit and X, who intends to be posting on this upcoming one as well. We will provide an update if any changes we made, but keep on the lookout for #JWvsNorway on social media, that is what u/Larchington u/FrodeKommode and u/ByMissUsato will be using for updates.
Once again, huge respect and admiration for all our Norwegian people who gave evidence and worked bravely to hold the Borg accountable for their destructive practices.
Win or lose, they have achieved so much in making the wider public aware of what JW is actually about. In the long term, JW will lose.
They have done so much to make this possible, they are determined! Major respect for them.
Absolutely 💯 💐💐
UTMOST RESPECT TO THESE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!!!! Win or lose people will hear what's going on due to the live-stream!!!!!!
Will be watching in trepidation but along with a lot of hope and popcorn 🤗🤗
Ditto🥰
😀😀
gracias a estos juicios desperté
This is great news. Reminds me of the Australian Royal Commission videos that helped woke up many, including me. It will be a great resource to have this on video for future playing. Whatever the outcome is, this already feels like a victory.
I feel if this is a win for us and Norway, it will be a main topic on the religion world wide just like ARC
Shouldn't be presumptuous though.. lmao 😂🤣 shame on Jackson
Totally agree! Even if the borg were to win, anyone watching the trial will see their lying “theocratic warfare” in action.
This one line — I think it was from Hendricks when he was shooting his mouth off in the PID — still angers me. I don’t remember if it was about the Norway situation or some other legal hot water, but he said something along the lines of: ‘We absolutely do not shun. That would mean pretending that person doesn’t exist, and we do not do that.’
Classic borg tactic: redefine a word to suit their purpose and then base the rest of their argument from there. So much gaslighting!
Awesome! I wonder if I could mention this to PIMIs..
“hey I heard the Norway court case is gonna be live streamed. It’d be cool to see Jehovah’s name be defended live!”
“But you’ll hear apostates!”
“In Russia the courts were filling with witnesses. If the org didn’t want us to hear a defense for Jehovah’s name they would have said so.”
Sounds good
sounds a great idea!
If there is need for translation help, I’m willing to assist🩷
Serving where the need is great
Edit: where greatness is needed
If you DM us, we can see what you can do to help :)
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽👏👏👏
Which country is next? France! Lets keep it going!
RIP Czechia
Really beautiful. You don't know how much I value the energy you're putting into this.
Thank you :)
Jws always said they would be that last religion standing, maybe they are going to be the first one falling?
They seem to have forgotten that for now 😀 Thank you so much avoidJW. I always click on so fast when you upload. Honestly, it’s a win already due to the publicity.
They have everything back to front, & are going to be shocked when nothing eventuates as they’ve been misled to believe. Their “truth” is going to utterly fail them.
In saying that, I’ll be the first one to help any JWs find their feet when they are left floundering as the rug gets pulled from under them & their entire support system collapses. I only wish them the best. They are sadly thoroughly deceived, as all of us were.
I don’t however have any time for the WT leaders. They deserve all the consequences coming to them, as they are knowingly causing untold harm & trauma to millions of JWs on an ongoing basis! Justice will be served, regardless of how long it may take.
Why Am I feeling so nervous? It's nerve-racking. I hope we see justice serve.
It is nerve-racking! I understand the feeling.
Me too. I know I will feel a level of devastation if WT wins (again). But as others have mentioned, even if they do, this has been very bad press for the cult. And to see our ex-JW friends fighting to expose them makes me so proud. It doesn’t take away any of the hard work and dedication. I know it’s cliche but it’s true that the wheels of justice turn slowly. Also reminding myself that other countries are noticing the human rights violations that WT is committing !
If all goes well, this could be the beginning of the end for Jehovah's witnesses as we know them today. Because this will serve as an example for other countries, this sect will be forced to change.
And its already in the works. Many will follow Norway's example if this goes right.
Win or lose, this will help wake up PIMIs.
A huge thanks to the King of the North (Frode), Larch and everyone working so hard to expose the cult leaders.
Let’s gooooo! 🔥🔥🔥
I predict a lot more letters and talks, especially in Europe, about avoiding news reports, things on the internet, etc. Probably a lot of fear mongering around AI as well to get people skeptical of anything they do see.
Also, I predict a GB update on Jan 30 or Feb 6th. They’ll film two and pick which one to drop depending on how the case is going. If it looks good for them, it will highlight “Jehovahs loving discipline”. If it doesn’t look good, we’ll have some ‘NYTT LYS’ (new light)
Oh dear.
This is going to literally flood the internet.
Virtually everyone interested in this religion in the next 10-20 years will see footage of it, or have it thrust upon them by family and friends.
Even pimi will see snippets of this on YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok, and it will slowly awaken many pimi.
The Governing Body must abolish this shunning as quickly as possible, while they can still pretend they're doing it voluntarily and with their own motives.
It would really show that the Norwegian government didn't care about human rights and the welfare of children if they side with the JWs.
I just don't think Norway has all the facts and nuances about how JW's really operate.
Therein lies the problem. The org lies and obfuscates the truth about shunning.
Norway hopefully will get all the true information about all this hopefully.
Fingers crossed.
In Norway the government and the courts are strictly separated (as it should be).
The government has been clear, they support us and has sanctioned WT. Then WT tries to use the court system to overrule the government.
If this ends up as a WT win, then it is because they found some legal loophole they can use, combined with the most expensive lawyer team money can find, not because the Norwegian government changed its mind.
Hopefully it’s time for the tide to turn. The JW leaders are incredibly arrogant, & eventually their pride & the fact that they think they are somehow above the law, will be their biggest downfall.
Thank you for pointing this out Mr Nilsen; of course you are right. I greatly admire your strength and courage, and deeply appreciate all your efforts.
That’s amazing. I wonder if they keep lying even on livestream, saying „We don’t shun, normal relationships continue.“
We gotta do some public viewing or smt🥹😂😂
The last trial got limited press coverage, only two religious papers covered it. The trial also goes parallell with the start of the upcoming trial of the son of the crown princess, which will dominate the news.
So much appreciation for all of you who are taking part in this
When exjw’s log in from around the world and the different countries they live in this will show GB how much opposition to WT.
Let’s do the United States & every other country! 🩵
If they lose... they cannot make changes like last time? Or they would officially not have religious status with no way to reverse?
If they lose this case, based on the decision in 2022, then their next step will probably each year be to "reapply for reinstatement", based on revisions of the practice.
If they can argue in an application in 2026 that the breaches of the law that made them lose the funding in 2022 now has been changed, then they could be let back into the system. But the money for 2022-2025 will be lost.
This case is about money. The funding they now lose every year until they are reinstated.
Ohh ok thank you for the clarification!
Do they still have not for profit status in Norway?
Yes, that's never been an issue in this case. It's about the public funding, not legal status.
They have been unregistered and off the funding now for three years during this process. Even after winning in the Appeals Court, as it was appealed to the Supreme Court nothing really happened after their win.
Thank you, there's a lot of confusion out there about JWs tax status in Norway, lots of people saying that they have lost their tax exemption and no longer charitable status, but in Norway it is either, for profit businesses or not for profit businesses as far as I understand.
Not for profit status being a different law ( probably tax law?) and not included in the Religious Communities Act.
Yes, you are correct.
There is confusion because lots of people spread wrong information for some reason. Been like that through this whole process.
Thank you again.
I think they can appeal to the EU
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Strasbourg
Let’s go!!!!!
Que Jeová abençoe os promotores da Noruega.
Remember the impact videos from ARC had on PIMQ / PIMI people? And at the time, social media was not as important as it is now. I think this could have huge consequences on the JW practices' exposure.
I wonder if the JWs could get their status back by removing the policies that are deemed harmful? And if so, would they? It seems to me that if a country like Norway pulls this off, then many other EU-area countries will eventually follow suit, and I reckon the JW leadership knows this...
Yes, if WT loses in the Supreme Court they are free to reapply for 2026 based on changes of practice.
That was the initial demand from the government back in 2022, to start a dialogue on what WT could adjust to be in compliance with the law.
WT doubled down, this is when Tony Morris went on GBU, looked into the camera and said "we will never change!"
Well, Tony is gone, they still don't get money, if they lose in SC we'll be back to that question again. And WT will do whatever it takes.
There is something funny (in a very dark way) if WT changes a bunch of their core policies to keep cash flow avenues open. On the one hand it means their doctrine is worthless if they don't uphold it, on the other it shows they need western gov't money and tax benefits to stay afloat - member donations do not suffice.
Either way, it doesn't seem like they are doing too well.
True, if this was a religion filled with confidence (and cash) they would just tell the government that they could stick their money and their demands where the sun doesn't shine and move on without it.
A fun fact is that the LDS/Mormons don't apply for funding in Norway at all. So they don't have to answer to any rules or demand. As WT also could do.
it shows the doctrine to be worth whatever $$$ amount they hope to gain/lose.
Either way so many cultists are gonna learn for the first time that there’s a curtain they never knew existed.
I need to know, is it possible for the organization to settle this with money? Or is this a win or lose situation?
First question no (except corruptly), second question yes
thank you!!
Will the witnesses have to testify in person again, or will it just be lawyers presenting legal arguments?
No witnesses, so the SC trial will be kind of boring compared to all the action we had in the previous levels when both JW and exjw testified for four days.
The testimonials is already a part of the casefile and will be part of the reasoning. No need to do them again.
SC will be long, legal arguments and a lot of discussions around legal precedence, facts of the matter etc etc. Still really interesting and valuable to get the evidence on how WT denies any responsibility for their shunning practice etc.
They are being exposed in all sorts of ways, & they cannot escape from the spotlight that is now being shone on them.
Give them a good dose of bright “new light” that they cannot hide from!
This would make a great sequel to Spotlight. Open with this case and steer it back to wider attention on the CA coverups.
Thanks Frodo for you explanations.
I was wondering: the borg wrote to Norway after they lost their funds and after that Watchtower with the new light was discussed in the congregations that they now had made the necessary changes. I thought Norway had already responded that this prooved that the borg admits they were not in line for the funds.
May be in a technical judicial reasoning this can be used to say that the borg didn't have to appeal, since the original sentence was thus prooved to be right. They just had to make a new application for funds instead. And since they didn't, no funds are to be given for the time being.
Thank you so much!!
Is there any chance of WT pushing that to European court for human rights or something similar? In case they lose?
If WT lose in Norway the chance of them pushing this to ECHR is pretty much exactly 100%.
This will take years, though. And the vast majority of ECHR appeals are never accepted. So come what may.
Let's just hope universal justice is done
Im sure this has been asked several times already in the list of replies, but will it be recorded and posted on YT for those living in a part of the world that cannot view the livestream?
The courts will just livestream, then it will be gone.
What others choose to do..... It's up to the community to record, save, comment, sub and translate whatever they see fit.
We will try to record it if we can, it is going to be many hours of footage, and we still need to figure out how to translate it to English as well. Will update if we are able to!
Yall should write letters to Norway 🤣
I literally didn’t watch anything “apostate” for like two years this is still going on? Damn court cases really do take forever. They need Phoenix Wright or something cause there is a whole website full of obvious evidence.
If they lose they will simply appeal to the European court, simple
An appeal to the ECHR will take years and might not be accepted at all.
Long way to go for WT if they lose in the Norwegian SC, and in the meantime, while they wait for a possible ECHR case, the SC ruling will be effective.
And even ECHR can't rule on the case in itself, best case scenario for WT is that ECHR says that Norway has done something wrong and should consider the case over again.
Norwegian Supreme Court is where this will be decided.
That's the ceiling though. The lose there it's totally over
That's right, the supreme European court will be the highest court, so there can be no joy on either side, whatever the result, because they still have to talk to the highest European forum.
👍
Thank you to all the collaborators! Looking forward and hoping that jistice is served!
Hope justice gets served. Would be a pleasure to watch the trial
The JW religion has caused torturous trauma and pain.
It’s a high-control organization, otherwise known as a CULT, not a religion. Countries that actually have a true separation of Church and State are not putting up with Borg bullshit anymore. Yay!
I remember the days of hearing “we’re a religion, not a cult” and those old men who were back in that Brooklyn Heights $$$$$ real estate were spouting that shit…
Does anyone have a link?