Jehovah’s Witness Members Arrested

Police have arrested 69 people for links with the banned Jehovah’s Witness in one of the biggest crackdowns on the religious sect that officials said is becoming “bolder and more blatant” in Singapore.

The 25 men and 44 women were picked up in raids on apartments in four neighborhoods Friday. Books, magazines and other literature concerning the group also were seized, police said in a statement late Saturday.

Jehovah’s Witness, which claims 4 million members worldwide, refuses to swear allegiance to a state, salute a flag or participate in government.

Since the sect was banned here in 1972, more than 100 members had been arrested and court-martialed for refusing to do compulsory military service.