The last word of the defendant Dmitry Barmakin in Vladivostok during the retrial of the case

 RUSSIA

The last word of the defendant Dmitry Barmakin in Vladivostok during the retrial of the case

April 26 , 2023

Primorsky Krai

From the courtroom

In his speech, the believer said that he did not understand what would have to change if the court punished him for his faith: "Thanks to my religion, I do not take drugs, I do not smoke, I do not swear ... I do not participate in protest rallies, I do not insult the authorities. Do I really need to fix all this?"

Transcript of the court session in Pervorechenskiy District Court of Vladivostok dated 04/26/2023 on the case 1-43/2023 (1-391/2022; 1-305/2021; 1-21/2020; 1-388/2019) on the charge of Dmitry Viktorovich Barmakin of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Barmakin Dmitry Viktorovich:

Your Honor, at the beginning I would like to express my gratitude to you, because you created a respectful atmosphere at the meetings and allowed both the prosecution and the defense to provide all the necessary arguments. Thank you for that!

I want to express my gratitude to you, Svetlana Borisovna. You, as my defender, were imbued with all the tragedy of what was happening and took up my case, believing in my innocence from the very beginning. You had to work hard to figure out and understand how to protect a believer. Thank you very much!

I also want to thank the state prosecutor for taking his duties seriously. You have a hard work in the fight for compliance with the law. Thanks to the secretary and the assistant judge for their respectful attitude and work.

Many thanks to my dear wife Elena, who, despite her health problems, supported me in various ways. Many thanks to my many friends who, although they could not be in the courtroom, but their prayers and support, which manifested themselves in the form of loving, caring assurances, reminded me that their hearts are close.

In the essence of my case, I can say that the prosecution presented the usual actions of believers in such a way that it looked like some kind of spy games. So, according to the prosecution, an ordinary peaceful religious meeting and communication with friends on biblical topics are a continuation of the activities of a banned organization. The simple phrases "turn down the sound on a mobile device" are conspiracy. Communication in the apartment is a desire to hide from law enforcement agencies. And what is the result? Ordinary believers, Jehovah's Witnesses, are automatically and unreasonably enrolled as members of the legal entity MRO G. Vladivostok.

I want to emphasize that all my actions were carried out exclusively within the framework of the realization of the right to a joint confession of faith, guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. As we investigated during the trial, the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses was not banned by the Supreme Court. The fact that believers gathered not only for individual, but also for joint confession of their faith, complies with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and is not a violation of the law. I did not continue the activities of the banned organization, I wanted and want to peacefully, together with my co-religionists, profess my faith, worship God, praise him, learn his commandments and principles, because for me and my spouse as believers, this is an integral part of our spiritual life. If we stopped worshipping God together with our co-religionists, we would, in fact, cease to be believers. My motives were and remain pure. Extremism, that is, any hatred or enmity towards other people, is alien to me, like most believers. I have always sought to ensure that my intentions and motives are based on love for God and my neighbors.

Love of God and love of neighbor are the two most important commandments, about which Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind: This is the first and greatest commandment; The second is similar to it: "Love your neighbor yours, as yourself."" Loving others as well as oneself is a commandment of Jesus Christ that all his followers strive to keep, and as a Christian I try my best to do so too.

These commandments in no way imply inciting racial and religious hatred or undermining State foundations. As you know, thoughts are followed by actions. If a person's thoughts and motives are good, then his deeds will benefit him and others. If the thoughts are evil, then their fruits will be bad. I had no extremist motives, I do not feel hatred and enmity towards other people, including people of other religions, so my actions could not harm them. And in general, this is indirectly confirmed by the materials of this criminal case. The indictment explicitly states that there are no victims or any damage from my actions. I, like all Jehovah's Witnesses, am now mistakenly branded as an extremist. But Jehovah's Witnesses are useful, hardworking members of society who do not pose a threat to the security of the country in which they live. They are law-abiding, pay taxes, work honestly and contribute to the efforts of the state to take care of the welfare of society.

Yes, I believe that God is not some faceless and abstract force. He is a powerful personality who created the entire universe. And since he is a person, then, of course, he has a name. The prayer "Our Father", well known to many people, begins with the words: "Our Father, who art in heaven! Hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:9, 10). These words clearly show that the Father of Jesus Christ, that is, God, has a name that people should sanctify. In any case, Jesus called in this prayer to sanctify the name of God. And how can a person sanctify the name of God if he does not pronounce it? Yes, I know that God's name is Jehovah and I am not shy to pronounce this name. But is that a crime?

I will give you an example of one of the searches that took place here in Vladivostok. The woman had a large library, and one of the people conducting the search began to leaf through the books, one by one. After a while, he was approached by another who was conducting a search with the question: "Well, is there a keyword?" Think about it! These people were not looking for traces of criminal activity, they were looking for the name of God — Jehovah. This means that law enforcement agencies are fighting not with people, but with God, the Creator of heaven and earth. But God Jehovah gave people the Bible so that they could live amicably and happily. He wants people not to get sick, not to suffer and not to quarrel.

Your Honor, if you find me guilty and condemn me, then this will be followed by a punishment aimed at my correction. But what will I have to fix in this case? Thanks to my religion, I do not take drugs, do not smoke, do not swear, I do not humiliate believers of other religions and do not prevent them from believing the way they want. I do not participate in protest rallies, I do not insult the authorities. Do I really need to fix all this? I hope not! Therefore, I ask you to acquit me.

Summary of the case

Region:

Primorsky Krai

Locality:

Vladivostok

What is suspected:

According to investigators, he conducted services together with others, which is interpreted as "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the liquidation of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses)

Criminal case number:

11802050005000051

Case initiated::

July 27, 2018

Current stage of the case:

proceedings in the court of first instance

Investigates:

SB in Pervorechenskiy district of Vladivostok SU IC of the Russian Federation in Primorsky Krai

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-43/2023 (1-391/2022; 1-305/2021; 1-21/2020; 1-388/2019)

Considers on the merits:

Pervorechensky District Court of Vladivostok

Judge of the Court of First Instance:

Larisa Smolenkova