The last word of the defendant Evgeny Fedin in Surgut

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Evgeny Fedin in Surgut

November 9 , 2023

Khanty-Mansiysk JSC

The believer told the court about how studying the Bible gave him hope and made him a peace-loving person. He stressed that the desire to talk about God to others is not extremism, but "a way to express love for God and people."

Transcript of the court session in the Surgut City Court of 09.11.2023 on the case № 1-27/2023 (1-130/2022; 1-1348/2021) on the accusation of Fedin Evgeny Anatolyevich and others . in committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Fedin Evgeny Anatolyevich:

Dear participants of the process, before starting, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone for the working atmosphere during the process and for the respect they tried to show each other.

Your Honor, I am grateful to you for trying to maintain the spirit of competition in the process, intervening in time if emotions were running high, and fatherly instructing the parties. And if this did not help, then a 10-minute break was announced so that the participants in the process could put their feelings in order and cool down. In my opinion, this is very dignified, competent, and most importantly, humanly. Thank you for allowing our family and friends to come to us during breaks, and also letting us go to elderly parents.

It is impossible not to express gratitude to the secretary, our Zhanna Petrovna, for the friendly atmosphere, the appropriate humor. In many ways, thanks to you, our processes started on a positive note, and thank you for the ability to get into the situation and help.

It is impossible to ignore our respected bailiffs, who ensured order, but at the same time were not rude to us, remained polite and courteous.

Thank you to my family and friends for their support and personal interest in this process. They constantly called, wrote words of support in messages, wrote letters and fervently prayed for us. While I was in custody for 2 months, I received about 900 letters from all over the world. Most of all I want to say a huge thank you to my dear wife Natalia. All this difficult time, she was there for me, she was an assistant and support. The words from the book of Proverbs 18:22 were fulfilled on me: "He who has found a good wife has found a treasure." I have found a treasure — she is my blessing from Jehovah God.

Many thanks to the lawyers for the great work done. You have put your whole heart and soul into this process, having prepared a competent defense. In my opinion, objectively proving that the whole case was built on far-fetched grounds and fantasies of the investigator. And after your speeches in the debate, I wanted to applaud.

And I want to thank the prosecution in the person of the state prosecutors and all those who brought me to the dock for carefully fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus Christ recorded in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark 13:9: "You be ready. You will be put on trial... and will be taken because of me to the rulers and kings so that they will hear about me."

[…]

Why will the followers of Christ be brought to court? Jesus Christ said, "That they may hear of me." Persecution opens up a new opportunity to tell about what is written in the Bible. Otherwise, how will judges, prosecutors, investigators, lawyers hear the news about the Kingdom of God? They are not at home. Therefore, persecution opens up the opportunity to tell in detail about what is written in the Bible. Examining the case materials, the distinguished attendees were able to attend the Evening of Remembrance of the death of Christ, congresses, a visit to the district elder, Bible studies and other divine services. Such persecutions further convince me that I am on the right path and the above-mentioned prophecy of Jesus is being fulfilled on me.

In the last word, I would like to explain to the court my attitude to this case, explain my personal motives and tell how my faith affects my relationships with people. I will speak only for myself, because "everyone will carry their own burden."

In October 2021, at a preliminary hearing in my attitude to the indictment, I began my speech by comparing this case with a house, looking from afar at which it seems that it is of high quality and reliable, but upon closer examination it becomes clear that this is far from the case. The judicial investigation allowed us not only to get closer, but also to look inside this "house" and allowed us to establish that the house was built of substandard materials, and this structure does not look like a house, the qualification of the builders is in great doubt, since they used substandard materials and illegal construction methods. And if such a house is put into operation, it will ruin the residents and endanger the lives of people around them.

So is this case. If we approve the verdict requested by the prosecution and find me and my friends guilty, it will have far-reaching consequences not only for us, but also for our relatives and society as a whole.

You, Your Honor, are the commission that is to evaluate this structure and construction methods — whether, as the prosecution claims, we are dangerous criminals and we need to be isolated from society.

I said a lot during the judicial investigation and in the debate, but I wanted to draw the attention of the court and those present to two points that, in my opinion, are important for an impartial decision:

1) The 91st volume of the case contains an instruction from investigator A.V. Guselnikov to FSB Major General I. V. To Kochnev: "Instruct employees subordinate to you to conduct a complex of ORM aimed at establishing and collecting compromising material ... including the following information: the use of alcohol, narcotic and psychotropic drugs and substances by these persons, participation in the organization and conduct of gambling, the presence of extra-family ties with the opposite sex, promiscuous sexual relations, as well as other information indicating that the persons brought to criminal responsibility do not adhere to and do not obey the moral laws of their religion." One can only guess what the compromising material was going for. The same volume contains the answer: "Compromising materials testifying to their violation of the requirements and restrictions determined by the creed of the "Jehovah's Witnesses" have not been established."

2) In the 113th and 128th volumes it is written: "Paragraph 2 of Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, sounds like this: "Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence must be prohibited by law." This pact is valid on the territory of all the countries participating in the treaty. Jehovah's Witnesses live on the territory of these countries according to the same moral norms and laws as in Russia, since the program of worship, as we found out during the judicial investigation, is the same for the whole world. The question arises: "Why are criminal cases not initiated on the territory of other countries participating in this treaty for violating paragraph 2 of Article 20 of this international covenant, but in Russia they are initiated if Jehovah's Witnesses live everywhere according to the same biblical norms?" On the other hand, "why do international legal bodies and participating countries, when it comes to Jehovah's Witnesses, accuse Russia of violating the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses? Is there something wrong with Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia or are law enforcement agencies all over the world wrong?"".

Back in 2018, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Igor Lebedev said that with the help of Article 282, they punish for "thoughtcrime"_. During the discussion on June 7, 2018, the head of State Vladimir Putin agreed that article 282 of the Criminal Code should not be brought "to insanity and absurdity." There are constitutional rights of citizens of the Russian Federation — to profess their religion not only individually, but also jointly with others, that is, to gather for prayer meetings. And this right is not limited by the law on countering extremist activity.

This accusation is unfounded and violates my constitutional rights and aims to discredit and destroy the lives of ordinary civilians and their relatives.

Your Honor, I have to touch on a spiritual topic in the last word. Thus, I want to emphasize my motives, from what motives I act, so that it becomes obvious that there is no extremism here. Matthew 24:14 says: "The glad tidings of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the earth so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come."

The glad tidings of the Kingdom cannot be carried out of a feeling of hatred. Why? Firstly, it is joyful._ Secondly, it is about the Kingdom of God, the heavenly government headed by Jesus Christ, which will eliminate human suffering, injustice, illness, death, grief and tears. It is impossible to talk about such pleasant and inspiring events out of a feeling of hatred. Thirdly, all nations should hear it. To bring the message to people from all nations and to make them want to give you at least a couple of minutes and talk to you, you need to love people and respect their culture, social status, customs, religious views and way of life. But if you hate people, how can you talk to a person in a kind way, taking into account his feelings, values, and life principles?

Notice that Jesus Christ said, "It will be preached," which means that no one and nothing can prevent it. Attempts to stop the spread of the "joyful news" are equivalent to the attempts of a janitor to stop the ocean tide with a broom.

The Bible predicts how most people will react to this message: "But as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be during the presence of the Son of man. In the days before the flood, people ate and drank, got married and got married until the day Noah entered the ark. They didn't pay attention to what was happening until the flood started and destroyed them all. So it will be during the presence of the Son of man" (Matthew 24:37-39). The main problem of people is that they "do not pay attention to what is happening."

However, despite this attitude, a loving God considers it fair for all people to hear the message from the Bible about what God has planned for the earth and how he is going to do it.

But at the same time, Jehovah takes into account our freedom of choice, which he has given us, so he does not force anyone, but offers: "I call heaven and earth to witness today: I have offered you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19). God says that every person has a choice between eternal life and eternal death.

[…]

Does this mean that only Jehovah's Witnesses will be saved, as the prosecution claims? No. Revelation 7:9, 14 says: "After that, I saw a great many people that no one could count. They were from all nations, tribes and peoples and spoke different languages. These people stood in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, they were dressed in long white clothes and held palm branches in their hands… These are the ones who survived the great calamity."

The Apostle John saw "a great multitude of people," but it is not said that the apostle saw a great multitude of Jehovah's Witnesses only. Why? Because the decision of whom to save is made by God Jehovah, not by people. It depends on each person individually how he will use his right of choice and whether he will be among the "great multitude".

I sincerely believe that I can help people get life-saving knowledge from the Bible and find out what it teaches. In my opinion, it would be a manifestation of extremism to hide this information from people, thereby depriving them of the opportunity to make their own informed choice.

Is it right to accuse me of intimidating people by telling about these events? From time to time, the Ministry of Emergency Situations sends SMS messages to the phone about the deterioration of the weather: frosts, strong winds, heavy rains. And no one has the idea that the Ministry of Emergency Situations intimidates people by warning about it. People decide for themselves what to do with this message — to listen or not.

And on the contrary, if the Ministry of Emergency Situations does not warn people about the impending danger, this service will be to blame for the victims that may be. I also feel a personal responsibility to talk about future changes. And the changes will be grandiose!

One of them that I would like to focus on is the resurrection of the dead. During the time that the investigation and trial were going on, I buried my father and sister. There is a promise of God in the Bible that gives me strength and helps me look to the future with hope: "And the last enemy that will be finished with is death" (1 Corinthians 15:26). The Bible calls death an enemy, not a transition from one form of life to another and tells that God is with her will finish. If people lived after death, the Bible would not call death an enemy. How will God end death? Gradually resurrecting the dead people in paradise on earth: "Your dead will live. The bodies of my people will rise. Wake up and cheerfully exclaim, Lying in the dust!.. The earth will let the dead go, and they will come to life" (Isaiah 26:19).

The Bible tells in detail about nine cases of resurrection, each of which was confirmed by eyewitnesses. These cases show that God has both the power and the desire to resurrect the dead. He keeps in his boundless memory detailed information about each person whom he will resurrect with the help of his great power. How do we know that? Psalm 147:4 says, "He knows the number of stars, He calls them all by name." According to scientists, there are trillions of galaxies in the universe, each of which has about 100 billion stars, not counting planets. "He calls them all by name," that is, God knows the purpose of each star, its composition, etc.

But how well does Jehovah know us, each person individually? "And you even have all the hairs on your head counted" (Matthew 10:30). Who among us knows how many hairs he has on his head? Therefore, the resurrected will be those whom we knew well, with their own characteristics and character traits, tastes and talents.

God can resurrect the dead, and he really wants to do it! Describing the future resurrection, the Bible says of God: "You will long for the creation of your hands" (Job 14:15).

People are not inanimate stars — they are the crown of God's creation, which he created in his image and likeness, capable of reflecting his qualities: love, wisdom, justice, virtue, mercy, sensitivity, compassion and other wonderful qualities. Jehovah is waiting for his appointed hour to bring people back to life.

In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation there is Article 125, which is called: "Abandonment in danger": "Deliberate abandonment without the help of a person in a life- or health-threatening condition."

From what motives do they provide assistance? Out of love and compassion, not out of hatred and superiority. Talking about the Kingdom of God and what it will do for humanity is my way of expressing love for God and people.

Before I started studying the Bible, I lived by the principle: "If you can't reach the heart, knock on the liver," and I was good at it, since I was professionally engaged in boxing. In the 90s, athletes often joined illegal activities, and I was faced with such a choice: to be in an organized criminal group or to study the Bible? Most of my friends have already died: either from a drug overdose, or were killed or drunk. I chose to study the Bible, which I am very happy about. It literally saved my life, I learned to live in peace with people, to see the good in them, not to repay evil for evil, but to overcome evil with good. I sincerely want people to feel really comfortable and easy next to me. My choice helped my parents stop worrying about me.

As a result, I have a lot of real friends who live by biblical principles, who support me. Some come here, others write, call to support me and my wife.

I remember the words that in 2018, the head of state Vladimir Putin said at the World Russian People's Council: "I am convinced that life will put everything in its place, because you cannot force people to go against their faith, their traditions, family pedigree, in the end, against truth, justice and just common sense."

I agree with these words, there are many such cases in history. For example, one of our co-believers, who survived the horrors of the Fascist concentration camps, told how Heinrich Himmler once told our co-believers, prisoners of the concentration camp: "Let your Jehovah rule in heaven, but here on earth we rule! We will show you who will outlive whom!" A little time passed, and the Nazi regime fell. Himmler was forced to flee. Later he met a Jehovah's Witness, Brother Lubke, a former concentration camp inmate. Himmler recognized him and, completely crushed, asked: "Well, Bible researcher, and what will happen now?" Brother Lubke explained to Himmler that Jehovah's servants always knew that the Nazi regime would collapse, and they would be saved. Himmler, who had repeatedly spoken contemptuously about Jehovah's Witnesses, had nothing to say this time. Shortly after, he committed suicide. Life has put everything in its place.

The end of Himmler's life is reminiscent of what happened to Judas Iscariot. I ask you, Your Honor, not to go against the truth and justice. The prosecution in the debate asked to isolate me and my friends from society, citing the severity of the article. What circle of people could I harm if, for almost five years of investigations, not a single victim was found? The answer is obvious, there is no such circle, it is only in the imagination of the prosecution and "an indefinite circle of people, probably all who know the Russian language" (volume 23).

In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of an official who lived in antiquity: "If in any land you see the oppression of the poor and the violation of judgment and truth, do not be embarrassed by this; because the highest looks after the high, and above all of them there is the Most Exalted" (Ecclesiastes 5:7). These words belong to King Solomon.

What did he mean by that? With these words, he described the real state of things in human society: there is always someone who is endowed with more power. But more importantly, these words remind us that Jehovah has supreme power.

The court is rightly called the conscience of the state. I would very much like the verdict of this trial to strengthen my confidence in the entire judicial system, showing that punishment is imposed only for real crimes, as it should be in a state governed by the rule of law, and not for implicit ones.

My conscience is clear both before God and before people – I have not committed a crime, so I ask you to acquit me and my friends. But if the respected court makes a different decision, I will wait for the judgment of the Most High — God's judgment!

Summary of the case

Region:

Khanty-Mansiysk JSC

Locality:

Surgut

What is suspected of:

"He made speeches, participated in a preaching service with local "Jehovah's witnesses", held meetings with "pioneers", "elders" and "service assistants", including in order to organize the activities of "elders" in the "Assembly""Take-off"".

Criminal case number:

42002007709000023

Initiated:

February 11, 2019

Current stage of the case:

Proceedings in the court of first instance

Investigates:

SO in Surgut SU IC of the Russian Federation in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.3 (1), 282.2 (2)

Case number in court:

№ 1-27/2023 (1-130/2022; 1-1348/2021)

Court:

Surgut City Court

Judge:

Dmitry Lupin