The last word of the defendant Alexey Bogatov in Balakovo

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Alexey Bogatov in Balakovo

November 15, 2023

Saratov region

Explaining to the court why his beliefs run counter to the charge against him, the believer asked: "I have always tried to lead a peaceful and peaceful life, adhere to the principle of "love your neighbor as yourself" — is this the kind of life that extremists lead?"

Transcript of the court session in the Balakovo District Court of the Saratov region, Balakovo, dated 11/15/2023 in the case 1-371/2023 on charges against Bogatov Alexey Viktorovich and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Bogatov Alexey Viktorovich:

Dear Court, let me sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for your hard work. Why is it difficult? Because it is you who bear the brunt of sentencing, and this requires emotional, moral and physical strength. Thank you for delving into my case. And, undoubtedly, you have formed some idea of me as a person. Not everyone will decide to choose the position of judge — you need the courage not to compromise with your conscience and the law. After all, when a verdict is passed, not only the defendant suffers, but also his loved ones. All this does not go unnoticed: it deprives someone of health, and someone even of life. These are the consequences of a verdict.

The creator and judge of the entire universe, Jehovah God, through his Word, the Bible, addresses the judges with these words: "So, kings come to your senses, learn the judges of the Earth! Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in him with awe. Honor your son, so that he will not be angry, and so that you will not perish on your way. For his anger will be kindled soon. Blessed are all who put their trust in him" (Psalm 2:10-12). The judge of the entire universe asks: "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling." This joy comes from the fact that you judge fairly, without breaking the law, according to your conscience. And God also says, "Blessed are all who put their trust in him."It's a blessing that you judge this way. Once again, Your Honor, I sincerely thank you for your hard work.

I am also very grateful to the state prosecutor, Andrey Nazarkin. You have always listened carefully and did not take our counterarguments personally. Thank you for your respect. I want to thank the assistant judge and all the secretaries who did a great job. Many thanks to my lawyer, Anna Petrovna, and all the other lawyers. You have worked tirelessly with us, thank you very much.

I sincerely thank my friends who supported me. For 10 months, you have been coming to all court sessions, waiting all day outside the courtroom to see how they take us out and get us started. Your smiles, your assurances of love — all this gave me strength and perseverance.

I received letters from all over the world almost 5 days a week, an average of 20 letters every day for 10 months. These letters strengthened me, encouraged me, gave me courage and strength in a difficult time for me. It's not just support, it's faith in action, living faith. After all, our dear Jesus Christ said: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if there is love between you."

I want to thank the convoy. They followed all the instructions and regulations, but treated us with tact and humanity. Please give thanks to the other guards and bailiffs. Many thanks to our investigator Alexander Nikolaevich for his work, for the wonderful human qualities that I saw in him — tact, kindness, sincerity. He does his job and works selflessly.

And special thanks to my dear loving wife Lyuba, my children and grandchildren. My dear wife Lyuba, despite her illness, tried her best to help me, came on dates. She had a harder time than I did—she went through a lot in my absence. I am very proud of Anyone and will always thank Jehovah for blessing me with such a beautiful, compassionate, kind, gentle wife. How true are the words from the Holy Scriptures: "And the Lord God made a wife out of a rib taken from a man, and brought her to a man, and said: "Here is a bone of your bones and flesh of your flesh, she will be called a woman, because she was taken from her husband. Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife, and the two will be one flesh."

My dear soulmate, she has always been with me, and no prison walls, no shackles have been able and will not be able to extinguish our love — between us and our loving God. Because the spirit of God, the most powerful force in the universe, has united us even more.

Dear Court, I am being tried today as a Jehovah's Witness. Yes, I am a Jehovah's Witness, because I testify and defend the good name of our almighty God. All over the world, Jehovah's Witnesses are known for trying to talk to people everywhere about Jehovah God and his Kingdom.

They have also established themselves as people who do not give up their beliefs, despite any resistance and even the threat of death. In Nazi Germany, they were arrested en masse and sent to concentration camps. The witnesses did not take up arms and did not want to fight. Instead of greeting "Heil Hitler," they said "good afternoon" or "good morning."

In 1951, there was a mass deportation of Jehovah's Witnesses from the western part of the Soviet Union to Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Far East. The operation was codenamed "North". That winter, in inhumane conditions, in cold cattle wagons, entire families were sent into exile to an eternal settlement, and all their property was confiscated in favor of the state.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia declared itself its successor and harshly condemned the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses. In 1992, the believers were rehabilitated, they were given certificates as victims of political repression. But nowadays, Jehovah's Witnesses have been persecuted again on far-fetched charges of extremism.

Why are Jehovah's Witnesses being persecuted? What is the purpose of their preaching activities? Are they really messengers of God? And anyway, why does Jehovah need witnesses who are imperfect people? All this is connected with controversial issues that are being considered in the highest Court of the Universe. We are talking about a case that is immeasurably more important than anyone who has ever been dealt with. To understand why Jehovah needs witnesses and why they are willing to endure the most severe persecution, it is necessary to know what these controversial issues are.

They concern the legitimacy of Jehovah God's authority. As the creator and almighty God, he is the supreme ruler of the universe. That's what the Bible says: "When Abraham was 99 years old, Jehovah appeared to him and said, 'I am almighty God, serve me and be blameless'" (Genesis 17:1).

The Holy Scriptures also say: "To you, Jehovah, our mighty God, glory and honor rightfully belong, because you created everything, by your will everything came into existence and was created" (Revelation 4:11). Yes, God has rightfully dominion over everything in heaven and on earth, but he always exercises his power with love. Through the prophet Jeremiah, he says: "But let the person be proud that he knows and understands what I am. He knows that I am Jehovah, that I show devoted love and act justly and righteously on earth, because it brings me joy."

What does he expect from his intelligent creatures? Love and deep respect for his authority. But several millennia ago, the legitimate authority of Jehovah was called into question. How? By whom? The book of Genesis says that God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, and settled them in a beautiful garden. He gave them a commandment: "Of every tree in the garden you shall eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it, for on the day that you eat of it you will die" (Genesis 2:16-17).

What was the tree of knowledge of good and evil? And what did it mean to eat the fruits of this tree? The plant was real, but Jehovah gave it a symbolic meaning. Since he called it the tree of knowledge of good and evil and commanded the first people not to eat its fruits, it symbolized God's right to determine what is good (pleasing to God) and what is evil (not pleasing to God). Thus, the existence of the tree of good and evil has become a test for man — will he respect the supreme authority of God? Unfortunately, the first people did not obey the Creator and ate the forbidden fruit. They failed this simple but extremely important test of their obedience and appreciation (Genesis 3:1-6).

This seemingly insignificant action represented nothing more than a rebellion against the supreme authority of Jehovah. Why? By creating the first people, Jehovah endowed them with free will and mental abilities, such as perception, the ability to think logically and draw conclusions. Adam and Eve could not be compared either to robots or to animals, whose behavior is determined mainly by instincts. However, their freedom was relative, it was limited by the laws of God. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit consciously, of their own free will. Thus, they abused their freedom. What prompted them to do this?

According to the Bible, one spiritual being created by God chose the path of disobedience and opposition. This being, who later became known as Satan (the adversary of God), spoke through the serpent and inclined Eve, and through her Adam, to disobey God's authority. After eating the fruit, Adam and Eve put their judgment above God's, thereby showing that they themselves want to judge what is good and what is evil. Thus, the question was raised: does Jehovah have the right to rule people and does his power serve for the benefit of his subjects? [...] In addition, after 2,400 years, another question was raised: will people remain faithful to God in the trial? This can be read in Job 1:8-11, 2:4. This time, the purity of motives and loyalty to the Lord of the Universe of all servants of God were questioned.

The issues raised required resolution and time — more than 6,000 years have passed. And time has shown that people need the rule of God. Throughout their history, they have tried different forms of government: autocracy, democracy, monarchy, and so on. The result is described in the biblical book Ecclesiastes: "Man dominates man to his detriment."

Why did God need witnesses, and what does it mean to be a witness? The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament says: "A witness is someone who, by repeating persistently, confirms his testimony." The witness talks about what he has learned directly himself, or preaches any views and truths that he is convinced of.

For about 4,000 years, numerous pre-Christian witnesses have come forward in defense of God, starting with the faithful Abel. But there was still a long way to go before the issue of the supreme authority of God and the loyalty of his servants was resolved. Then came the time when the promised seed with royal authority, the Messiah, was to appear on earth.

To which of his millions of spiritual sons did Jehovah entrust this mission? All of them were eyewitnesses of what happened in Eden, and, undoubtedly, were well aware of the controversial issues of universal importance raised. But who most desired the cleansing of the name of Jehovah's God from shame and the justification of his supreme authority? Who would give the most convincing answer to Satan's audacious statement that no one would remain faithful to the Almighty in trials? For this mission, Jehovah chose his only begotten son Jesus: "God loves the world so much that he gave his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him would not perish, but would gain eternal life" (John 3:16).

Jesus readily and humbly agreed to complete this task, even though it required him to leave the heavenly home where he had lived with his father Jehovah longer than anyone else. What motivated him? Deep love for Jehovah and a burning desire to see his name completely cleansed of shame. In John 14:31, Jesus says: "But the world needs to know that I love my father. That's why I'm doing what my father told me to do." In addition, Jesus was driven by love for people. [...] He testified to the truth. When questioned by the Roman ruler Pontius Pilate, Jesus said: "That's why I was born and came into the world to testify about the truth. Everyone who stands on the side of truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). What truth did Jesus testify about? About God's, about the revelation regarding Jehovah's eternal plans.

How did Jesus testify to the truth? The ancient Greek verb with the meaning to testify about something also means "to declare", "to confirm", "to speak in someone's defense", "to speak well", "to approve". Therefore, by his ministry, Jesus had to confirm God's truth. To do this, of course, it was necessary to declare or preach this truth to others. However, testifying meant much more than just talking. "I am the truth," Jesus said (John 14:6). Yes, he lived the truth of God. God's plan for the Kingdom and its ruler, the Messiah, was detailed in the prophecies.

Throughout his entire earthly life, which ended with a sacrificial death, Jesus fulfilled everything that was predicted about him. In this way, he confirmed and guaranteed the accuracy of Jehovah's prophetic word. Therefore, the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of God, wrote down these words: "No matter how many promises of God, through him they became "yes." That's why we say "amen" in prayer through him." Yes, Jesus is the one through whom God's promises are fulfilled.

He testified to God's name (Matthew 6:9). On the last night of his earthly life, addressing his father Jehovah, Jesus said in his prayer: "I have revealed your name to the people you have given me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they followed your word. And I have revealed your name to them, and I will reveal it so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I am one with them" (John 17:6, 26).

Jesus revealed the name of God, not only using it, but also allowing to see the personality of the one who bears this name, to understand what his intentions, deeds and qualities are. Jesus testified to the name of the father with his words and deeds. He testified about the Kingdom of God. Why? It is the kingdom of God that is able to solve all the problems of humanity, such as wars, famine, and crime. It will even be able to control natural cycles — there will be no earthquakes and typhoons.

But why won't secular governments be able to solve these problems? There is one important reason for this: our world is ruled by a very strong, powerful spiritual personality – Satan the Devil. "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the devil" (1 John 5:19).

Dear court, why am I talking about this now? Because this is what God Jehovah says through his Word, the Bible. All his Witnesses in more than 242 countries and territories speak about this, and I have spoken about it and will speak about it as a Jehovah's Witness. When Jesus Christ lived on earth, he healed the sick. His actions showed what Jehovah God would do in the future through his Kingdom: "God will wipe the tears from their eyes, and there will be no death, no sorrow, no sobbing, no more pain. All that was before has passed away" (Revelation 21:3, 4).

When Jesus raised the dead, what did he want to show? That "there will be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous" (Acts 24:15). Yes, on a land cleansed of evil and Satan, Jehovah, through his son Jesus Christ, will resurrect our beloved dead.

Jesus also fed thousands of people with several tortillas — this shows that under the rule of the Kingdom of God there will be an abundance of food, no one will starve. "There will be abundance of grain on the earth, and there will be plenty of it on the tops of the mountains" (Psalm 72:16).

What other blessings will Jesus' rule pour out on obedient people? "People will build houses and live in them, they will plant vineyards and eat their fruits. It will not happen that they will build, but others will live, plant, and there will be others. The life of my people will be as long as the life of a tree. And my chosen ones will enjoy all the fruits of their labor."

God will end wars once and for all. "Come and look at the works of Jehovah, at the amazing things that he does on earth. He stops wars all over the earth" (Psalm 46:8-9). Isn't it a joy to know about it? This is good news. That's what I've been telling people and I'm going to tell them. This is the command of Jesus Christ: "Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19-20).

Your Honor, that's exactly what I was telling the person who wanted to listen to me. I did not impose my opinion and did not force you to believe it. If I were doing this, I would be acting against the will of God, who gave people the right to choose. [...] When I communicate with a person, I say: "This is what Jehovah says through his Word the Bible," and the person himself decides whether to listen to God or not.

When I learned in 1994 about our loving Father Jehovah, what he had done for the salvation of sinful humanity and for me personally, my heart was filled with strong love and appreciation for him and his son Jesus Christ. "From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" — I can't help but talk about it. In order to talk about this, you do not need some kind of legal authority, for example, the MRO. Article 28 of the Constitution gives me this right. If the court deprives me of such a right, then it makes the 28th article dead.

"From sunrise to sunset, my name will be great among the nations" (Malachi 1:11). This exciting prophecy, which Jehovah uttered about 2,450 years ago, is being fulfilled today. So, on the territory of Russia, when the sun sets over the faithful servants of God in Kaliningrad, the westernmost city of the country, it already rises over Jehovah's Witnesses living on the Chukchi Peninsula. The time difference between Kaliningrad and Chukotka is 11 hours. Truly, the sun never sets on the people of God, who boldly talks about the Kingdom of God, the real government, headed by Jesus Christ. It is the Kingdom of God that will intervene in the affairs of people and end the cause of all the troubles and sufferings of mankind — Satan, a real spiritual person.

It is now that the Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled: "The glad tidings of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole earth so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). Not the end of the world, as some people say, but the end of the reign of Satan, who does not want people to know what time we live in. His goal is to corrupt human society and lead it to destruction. And for him, Jehovah's Witnesses are sworn enemies. He uses his favorite method — pressure and intimidation. This has been repeated many times in the history of mankind.

This is how it happened in the first century with the followers of Jesus Christ. In the Bible, in the book of Acts, in the 5th chapter, from the 27th to the 39th verse, it is written: "The apostles were brought and set before the Sanhedrin. The high priest questioned them and said, "We have strictly forbidden you to teach on behalf of this man [Jesus Christ], but you have filled the whole of Jerusalem with your teaching, and you want to blame us for the death of this man." In response, Peter and the other apostles said, "We must obey God, not men. The God of our ancestors resurrected Jesus, whom you killed by executing on a stake. God exalted him by placing him at his right hand and made him a leader and savior so that Israel could repent and receive forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses to this and the Holy Spirit, which God has given to those who obey him." Upon hearing this, they became enraged and wanted to kill them. But then a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, rose up and ordered the apostles to be brought out for a while. Then he said, "Think carefully before you do anything with these people. Some time ago, Fevda appeared, calling himself the great, and about 400 people joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers scattered and disappeared. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared during the census and took some of them with him. But he also died, and all his followers fled. That's why I'm telling you: leave these people alone, don't touch them. After all, if it is a plan or a deed from people, then it will collapse, 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."

Defending my good name, I would like to remind you of the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 28, 2021, according to which the investigation should not initiate criminal proceedings, carry out searches and arrests only on the basis of the fact that a person adheres to the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses. Chairman of the Supreme Court Vyacheslav Lebedev explained: "Actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime."

According to the prosecution, a peaceful religious meeting and communication with friends on biblical topics are a continuation of the activities of a banned organization, and conversations in an apartment are a desire to hide from law enforcement agencies? I'm being judged for something I didn't do. For the fact that I believe in the one living God, whose name is Jehovah, for the right to believe in God.

I've never had a criminal record. On the contrary, I have worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for more than 10 years, I have awards, incentives and positive characteristics. I have always tried to lead a peaceful and peaceful life, adhere to the principle of "love your neighbor as yourself" — is this the kind of life that extremists lead?

On June 7, 2022, the European Court of Human Rights issued a historic decision in favor of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. He ruled that the Russian Federation had violated the rights of the followers of this denomination, and ordered it to stop their persecution, release the prisoners and pay them compensation.

[…]

The Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights drew attention to the groundlessness of the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated April 20, 2017, which initiated the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. This court decision contains an exhaustive list of legal entities to be liquidated, but it does not contain conclusions on the prohibition of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses as such. A similar conclusion was formulated in the appeal ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 17, 2017, where it is noted that the court of first instance did not assess the legality of the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Once again, I want to appeal to the court: have I found evidence of extremism, hatred, hostility, violence, threats to the state? There is absolutely no action — not a single phrase, not a single word in all 27 volumes of the criminal case. The examination conducted on behalf of the investigator confirmed that in the records received from meetings of believers, there are no signs of incitement to hostility, hatred, elevation above another and religious faith. On the contrary, these meetings encourage love and good deeds. There are no victims or facts of illegal activity in the case.

[…]

Roman Lunkin, head of the Center for the Study of Problems of Religion and Society, spoke about the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Russian Federation: "The case of Jehovah's Witnesses for many years has become a reason to accuse Russia of violating freedom of conscience and just common sense." Just think about the words of common sense: is it possible to judge a person for believing in God and living by his principles?

You can tell a person: "You shouldn't eat, you don't have the right to eat," but if he stops eating, he will die. That's how God made us. But Jesus Christ also said that "man will live not only by bread, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord." I, like any other person, have a need to eat spiritually, and I am being judged for this. But this accusation is not directed against me — against God. After all, Jehovah says: "My son, do not forget what I teach you. And keep my commandments with all your heart, because they will add many days to your life and bring you peace." And Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, said: "Happy are those who seek to satisfy their spiritual hunger."

The biblical Epistle to the Romans says that every person "must obey the highest authorities, because any authority is from God" [...] This is what we learn at Christian meetings. We also imitate the example of Jesus Christ, who told his disciples: "Give Caesar's to Caesar, and God's to God." [...] We take a neutral position on policy issues — some see this as a manifestation of indifference, others as a threat to society. But Christian neutrality has nothing to do with indifference. Indifference is indifference, an indifferent attitude towards someone or something. We, like Jesus, try to alleviate the suffering of people by telling them that the Kingdom of God will solve the problems of humanity. With the help of the Bible, we are trying to change the hearts of people, not the political system, and this approach is quite justified, since the problems of humanity are not political, but moral in nature.

Our position is not a threat to society, because Jehovah's Witnesses carefully observe the laws and voluntarily help public organizations. For example, before the closure of the local religious organization, we worked closely with the administration, taking part in the improvement of our city. We also undergo alternative civil service and regularly pay taxes. Yes, we do not participate in elections, we do not promote anyone's political interests, we do not seek to occupy administrative positions, but we also do not prohibit others from doing so. We do not criticize the authorities, we do not undermine their authority, we do not organize pickets and demonstrations.

[…]

I want to emphasize once again: the prosecution does not separate the legal entities liquidated in Russia and the religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses (a denomination consisting of believers), whose activities the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not consider and which was not recognized as extremist.

Speaking about judicial practice in criminal cases of extremist crimes, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified that if a religious association is recognized as extremist, believers can continue to exercise the right to freedom of conscience and religion, including through individual or joint confession of religion, worship or other religious rites and ceremonies, if they do not contain signs extremism. The continuation of the exercise of the right to joint confession of faith through the holding of divine services, both by former participants of the liquidated organization and by those persons who were not related to it, presupposes the same spiritual order and adherence to creeds, which, due to their universal nature, are characteristic of the religious denomination to which the legal entity belonged as a whole.

[…]

Forcibly changing creeds or how to practice them means banning religion itself. It is impossible to imagine that believers would stop telling others about their religious beliefs, using religious terminology, studying religious sources, observing the same rules of worship for all Jehovah's Witnesses in the world (performing spiritual songs, joint prayers, sermons, discussing sources of doctrine) the same religion within which the liquidated religious organization carried out its activities.

During his speech at the meeting of judges, Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Lebedev made a statement: "The increased standards of protection of the constitutional rights of citizens are ensured by the explanations of the Supreme Court that actions that do not contain signs of extremism and consist solely in the exercise of the right to freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including through religious rites and ceremonies, do not constitute a crime."

In fact, any actions of Jehovah's Witnesses to jointly profess creeds are unreasonably considered unacceptable, and the creeds themselves, suggesting the need for spiritual interaction, are considered extremist.

[…]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "Whoever does not remember the past has no future." Discussing the unjustified persecution of people for their beliefs, he noted: "Unfortunately, we face similar practices in many regions of the world, the planet, including in the post-Soviet space. At the same time, cave nationalism and Russophobia are used. Shameless, gross interference in church life is being carried out. Such a policy is fraught with serious consequences, it is dangerous! I am convinced that life will put everything in its place, because you cannot force people to go against their faith, their traditions, family lineage, in the end against truth, justice and just common sense!"

I fully agree with the President's words that I cannot be forced to go against my faith and conscience on pain of criminal liability. All my life I have tried to be a useful member of society. I would like to note that prayer, reading and discussing the Bible, and singing religious songs are for any believer a form of expression of his faith, necessary for the development of close relations with Jehovah God.

[…]

Your Honor, there is no heaven on earth today. You know how many crimes there are today, we have to deal with this. But if everyone followed the Biblical commandments, for example, "do not kill", "do not steal", life would be easier.

After adding legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses to the list of extremist organizations, Russian President Putin publicly stated: "Jehovah's Witnesses are also Christians, I don't really understand why they should be persecuted." I don't understand either! But I know for sure what God says in the Bible: "If you see that somewhere a man with power oppresses the poor and tramples on justice and justice, do not be surprised. After all, the one who does this is watched by the one who is above him. And there are those who are above them." Every person will answer to God.

God's peace and tranquility are in my heart, and indescribable joy is in my heart. I will always remember the controversial issue of universal importance that Satan raised. I have loved and will love Jehovah under any circumstances. As long as my heart beats and my mouth speaks, I will always talk about you, Jehovah, about your dear son Jesus Christ.

I do not know what sentence I will be sentenced to, but whatever it is, there will be no place in my heart for anger at those who judge me. On the contrary, I will pray for them that Jehovah will open their hearts. In the 1st Epistle to Timothy in the 2nd chapter, in the 3rd and 4th verses it says: "This is good and right in the eyes of our savior God, who wants all kinds of people to know the truth and be saved."

My conscience is clear before God. My conscience is clear before the state. My conscience is clear in front of people. The teachings of Jehovah and Jesus Christ encourage love and good deeds. Jehovah's Witnesses prove this by their way of life.

Dear court, I ask you to terminate the criminal case accusing me of committing a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation due to the absence of corpus delicti in my actions and pass an acquittal.

Summary of the case

Region:

Saratov region

Locality:

Balakovo

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, "the activities of the local religious unit [Jehovah's Witnesses] were resumed and organized on the territory of Balakovo, expressed in convening meetings, carrying out preaching activities, ... collecting funds under the guise of donations"

The number of the criminal case:

12207630001000004

Initiated:

February 11, 2022

The current stage of the case:

The appeal

is being investigated by:

The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Saratov Region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-371/2023

Court of first instance:

Balakovsky District Court of Saratov region

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Natalia Nikitinskaya