The last word of the defendant Gurami Labadze in Tula

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Gurami Labadze in Tula

November 2 , 2023

Tula region

Speaking before the court, the believer told about his beliefs and explained why he considers it his duty to tell others about the Bible: "Today, more than ever, the line between good and evil is almost erased, so people especially need knowledge about God and his norms."

Transcript of the court session in the Proletarian District Court of Tula dated 02.11.2023 in the case 1-142/2023 on charges of Labadze Gurami Noeevich and others. in committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Labadze Gurami Noeevich:

Dear court, dear present! So it's time for my last word. I want to start with gratitude, because the Bible encourages giving thanks for everything, and it's not difficult to do, since during these few months you have often given many different reasons for this.

Nina Valeryevna, I would like to thank you for being so patient with us.  I don't have a law degree, so you had a hard time with me.  The main thing is that you created such an atmosphere that it was not unpleasant for me to go to court sessions, but on the contrary, I was, so to speak, in anticipation.

I would also like to thank our esteemed prosecutor. Ilya Vladimirovich, thank you for your patience and endurance, it was not sweet for you to be with us: so much to read aloud and even with unusual expressions. It's really not easy.

Natalia, thank you very much: it's not easy to carry so many things back and forth or arrange delivery. And instead of enjoying socializing with your family and friends, you stayed too long at work to finish everything.  Plus, you still managed to take care of my health at the right time.

Our dear lawyers, thank you for adjusting your cases to the meeting schedules, although it was not always easy for you. You tried to understand this difficult matter with specific expressions. The Bible says, "He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his kindness" (Proverbs 19:17). Of course, Almighty God notices any acts of kindness and promises to reward them. I am sure that he will not remain in debt to you.

And of course, I especially want to thank my dear friends who have been giving me water, feeding, and supporting me all this time. Your presence gave us the necessary strength. So thank you all, my dear friends, very much.

In my last word, I would like to talk about our Creator, Jehovah God, because if it were not for him, there would be nothing and no one at all, including you and me. By the way, I wouldn't be in this room either. I wanted to tell you a little bit about why I fell in love with him, about his love not only for humanity, but also for me personally.

Vine's "Explanatory Dictionary of New Testament Words" says about love: "Love is recognized solely by the deeds to which it prompts." Why did love motivate Jehovah God, and in what ways did it express itself after he created the universe, including our planet? First, I divided the time into day and night, so that when a person is created, he could rest after a busy day. Then he separated the land from the water so that he could take his beloved beautiful wife and children to sunbathe. He created all sorts of trees — not only pleasant to look at, but also with delicious, healthy fruits. I gave them not plush toys, but our living smaller friends, one kind of which is worth something. And when he had prepared everything, he created man. Yes, Jehovah, as expected from a caring father, has prepared all this for the sake of his earthly children, for us. And even after he created man and provided everything necessary, he continued to take care of him.

He gave them a pleasant job: Adam and his descendants had to enjoy moderate labor, cultivating the land. God also explained what to do if he suddenly got tired of living: "You will eat from every tree in the garden, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do not eat from it, because on the day you eat from it, you will die by death." That is, if Adam stopped liking living in such conditions in the Garden of Eden, then it would be enough for him to eat the forbidden fruit and that's it — he would turn into the earth from which he was taken. And when Jehovah God saw that Adam was bored without an assistant, he gave him such a beautiful wife that when he saw her, Adam immediately began to speak in verse: "Behold, this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!" It can be said that Adam and Eve bathed in the love of Jehovah. We would like to live in such conditions!

How can you not love and obey such a caring Father!? But unfortunately, neither he nor his beautiful wife showed obedience to him and decided to live as they please. And today we see the result of their decision: not only they died, but all of humanity is on the verge of extinction because of their unwise choice.

The question arose: will God continue to show love to such disobedient, and now imperfect people? Time has shown that yes, it will. God continued to "give not only rains and fruitful seasons" so that there would be something to satisfy physical hunger, but also directed that the Bible be written and that man could satisfy a more important, spiritual hunger.

And Jehovah could wash his hands of this and say: "Now you have everything, so live as long as you wanted, and rejoice. I did everything that depended on me." And no one would have any reason to object to him. But look at what is written in the Bible, what else our loving Creator did: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." The Bible tells us that Jehovah allowed the cruel death of his beloved, innocent son to atone for the sin that Adam committed. One can only imagine what efforts this stall is for Jehovah! But for whose sake did he not interfere in this unjust execution, because it cost him nothing to send 12 legions of angels to help Jesus? Amazing! For us! So that we, sinful, disobedient people, have hope to live as long as our ancestors, Adam and Eve, should have lived if they had not sinned.

And how could people all over the world know about this hope? Jehovah also took care of this: his son gave his followers an important task so that they would go to all nations and teach them what they themselves had learned from him, that the Kingdom of God would correct all the consequences of Adam's sin. And it was impossible to take a penny for this: "we got it for free, give it for free" — that's what their teacher told them. And this is only a tiny part of all the things that our loving heavenly Father has done and continues to do out of love for us.

Almost 30 years ago, when I found out about all this, the question arose in front of me: will I appreciate God's care for me or will I do the same as Adam did?  The conscience that God put into us, including me, helped me in making decisions. And I decided this not because that's how you can get eternal life, but because when you see how much someone is doing for you, then it would be ugly and ungrateful to turn your back on him. Especially if this someone is our Creator.

The history of mankind has shown the truth of the Russian proverb: "Without God, not to the threshold." Today, more than ever, the line between good and evil is almost erased, so people especially need knowledge about God and his norms. Experience has shown that physics and mathematics do not make a person a person, at best they can make him a good specialist. And I learned the hard way how many bumps I could have avoided if I had read not only The Knight in Tiger's Skin and other similar books, but also the Bible.

In the end, I wanted to quote the call of a respected member of the Sanhedrin of the I century Gamaliel, which he uttered at the trial, when he and his colleagues gathered to condemn the apostles for talking about Jesus. He said, "Leave these people alone, don't touch them. After all, if this plan or work is from people, then it will be destroyed, and if it is from God, you will not be able to destroy it. Otherwise, it may turn out that you are fighting with God himself." That time, the judges present listened to his words and released the apostles, although they were whipped first.

Unlike the members of the Sanhedrin, some of those in power have now decided to see for themselves whether the work that Jehovah's Witnesses are doing is really from God? If Hitler had been alive, he would have agreed with Gamaliel — this is definitely the work of God. Neither Hitler nor his Reich has been gone for a long time, and Jehovah's Witnesses, whom he so wanted to eradicate, are flourishing not only in Germany, but all over the world to this day.

Over the past few months, those present in this Hall have witnessed that my friends and I have not done or even planned to do anything that could cause anyone to suffer. Therefore, dear court, it is worth listening not only to Gamaliel's words, but also to the voice of your own conscience and leave these people alone.

Summary of the case

Region:

Tula region

Locality:

Tula

What is suspected of:

"I took active organizational actions... expressed in the organization of religious performances ... and the implementation of preaching activities" (from the resolution on the initiation of criminal proceedings)

Criminal case number:

12107700001370018

Initiated:

March 25, 2021

Current stage of the case:

proceedings in the court of first instance

Investigates:

WITH the FSB in the Tula region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-142/2023

Court of First instance:

Proletarian District Court of Tula

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Nina Panarina