The last word of the defendant Evgeny Fomashin in Balakovo

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Evgeny Fomashin in Balakovo

November 15, 2023

Saratov region

The believer told the court that Jehovah's Witnesses are known for living according to biblical principles: "It is for this reason that they reject all forms of violence… The very idea of the manifestation of such low acts as extremism is alien to me… I have always treated and treat people with deep respect."

Transcript of the court session in the Balakovsky district Court of the Saratov region dated 11/15/2023 in the case 1-371/2023 on charges of Fomashin Evgeny Yuryevich and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Fomashin Evgeny Yurievich:

Your Honor, dear prosecution and all present, I am grateful to everyone for the opportunity to say my last word. "I consider myself happy that today I can defend myself in everything that I am accused of," with these words, almost two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul began his defense in court. And I join in these words.

The apostle Paul goes on to say why he is being judged: "And now I stand before the court for the hope of the promise [promise] given from God" (Acts 26:6). And I also join in these words.

In his letters, inspired by God, he wrote: "Let us not leave our congregation" (Hebrews 10:25), to the young Christian Timothy: "I adjure you before God and Jesus Christ ... preach the word... exhort" (2 Timothy 4:1, 2). And describing the people who are faithful to God, he wrote: "having such a cloud of witnesses around us, let us overthrow from ourselves ... the sin that stumps us and with patience we will go through the field before us, looking at the ruler and finisher of the faith, Jesus" (Hebrews 12:1, 2).

Yes, the Apostle Paul spoke about the same thing that appears in the accusation today: about the meeting, the sermon, about God's witnesses — Paul, of course, knew his name. In ancient Hebrew manuscripts, it is represented as a combination of four consonants, that is, the tetragrammaton "YHVH" (YHVH). The traditional pronunciation in Russian is Jehovah.

I am pleased and encouraged to realize that if the Apostle Paul had lived in our time, he would undoubtedly have stood next to me with an identical accusation. It does not surprise me at all that this is happening today, because Jesus warned in advance, saying: "Remember the word that I told you: a servant is no greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John 15:20). The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12: "Yes, and all who wish to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

Throughout the trial, the respected court was provided with numerous defense evidence. The experts committed a gross violation. Having independently changed the type of examination carried out, a religious studies examination was carried out. Experts refer to the fact that the name of God Jehovah is used in specialized publications. And this does not correspond to reality, since the specified name of God is used in numerous widespread translations of the Bible, including the Synodal translation, which is a well-known fact. I will give just two examples:

Exodus 34:5 — "And the LORD came down in a cloud, and stood there beside him, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah."

Hosea 12:5 — "And the Lord is the God of hosts; Who is (Jehovah) is his name.

Many Russian and Soviet poets and writers knew the personal name of God and reflected it in their works:

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin: "What a pity that early thunderbolts struck Him down with his anger" ("From a letter to Vigel", 1823);

Alexander Kuprin: "I testify before Jehovah that gold is not with me, but with him!" ("Sulamith", 1912);

Alexey Tolstoy: "He drove the enemy into utter fetters according to the mania of Jehovah" ("The Sinner", 1857);

Marina Tsvetaeva: "He says about the poor widow – That one must love Jehovah" ("Daniel", 1916);

Sergei Yesenin: "Well, let Egova forgive him this childish (a bit like a boyish) trick" ("Letter to Panfilov G. A.", November 1912).

And many others: Saltykov-Shchedrin "Niece", Paustovsky "Golden Rose", Vladimir Mayakovsky's poem "War and Peace", Nikolai Ostrovsky "How steel was tempered", Andrey Voznesensky "Cornflowers of Chagall". And this list can be continued for a very long time.

It is very sad for me to realize that due to incomplete knowledge and misconceptions, families can remain incomplete, destinies and lives of people can be destroyed. The faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is based on the text of the Bible, on how the apostles and Christians of the first century acted, on what Jesus Christ himself taught.

I would like to note once again that the Supreme Court did not prohibit the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. Moreover, on February 20, 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation explained that no court of the Russian Federation assessed either the legality of the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses or the ways of their expression: "Participants in a liquidated organization can independently carry out a religious cult, including as part of religious groups that do not require registration."

According to the explanations of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation given in the Resolution of its Plenum dated 06/28/2011 No. 11 (ed. dated 10/28/2021) "On judicial practice in criminal cases of extremist crimes", in case of recognition of a religious association as extremist, believers can continue to exercise the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including through individual or joint professing religion, performing divine services or other religious rites and ceremonies, if they do not contain signs of extremism.

The prosecution did not provide any evidence of signs of extremism, except for peaceful discussion of the Bible, the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayers to God and praising God in songs — in other words, worship services based on the text of the Bible.

It seems that from the point of view of the prosecution, every believer who professes the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is an extremist and is subject to criminal prosecution. Thus, in the Russian Federation, the very faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is prohibited, and believers are labeled extremists.

I would like to remind the esteemed court that for all believers who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, the basis is the commandment spoken by Jesus Christ and recorded in Matthew 22:37,38: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind." "With all my heart" means with all my senses, "with all my soul" means with all my vital forces, and "with all my mind" means to recognize God, reflecting on his norms, and adopt his way of thinking.

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful," says 2 Timothy 3:16. Therefore, discussing and reflecting on what is written in the Bible is part of the commandment "love the Lord God."

And the second commandment, similar to the first one that Jesus spoke about: "Love your neighbor as yourself." That is, the defining quality is the manifestation of love and respect for people regardless of their nationality, social status and religious affiliation.

Reflecting on the definition of extremism in Federal Law No. 114, which sounds like "incitement of social, racial, national or religious discord; violation of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of a person and citizen, depending on their social, racial, national, religious or linguistic affiliation, or attitude to religion," the question arises: who is today is he really a victim of such a definition?

Believers who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses are always faced with a biased attitude towards themselves. The main reason for this is ignorance of the true motives and beliefs, and often just misconceptions. Because of this, believers, peaceful people, who pose no danger to anyone, were given another modern label — "extremists".

Jehovah's Witnesses are well known for trying to live by biblical principles. It is for this reason that they reject all forms of violence, obey secular laws and strive for peace in all areas of life. They do not resort to violence, work conscientiously, pay taxes honestly, as a rule, have strong friendly families. Living according to biblical principles, they are reliable workers, good neighbors, caring parents. They never impose their views on anyone. Listening or not is a matter of conscience and choice for each person.

Turning over the page of history, during the Second World War, under the fascist Hitler regime, Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps. In the USSR, in April 1951, numerous families with children of about 10,000 people were repressed or evicted forever to the Irkutsk and Tomsk regions. For about three weeks they endured the conditions of Stolypin wagons without toilets and bunks, more often intended for transporting livestock. In the places where they were brought, hard labor in the sawmill, cold, hunger and disease awaited them. Many were dressed in light clothes that were not intended for Siberian territories. There were no buildings where one could hide, so hastily dug dugouts in the frozen ground.

Many still remember those events, some from the mouths of their parents. Then many lost their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandparents. The Law of the Russian Federation "On Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repression" dated 18.10.1991 No. 1761-1, on the basis of which the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 03/14/1996 No. 378 "On measures for the rehabilitation of clergy and believers who became victims of unjustified repression" was later issued, the label of extremists was removed from Jehovah's Witnesses, and they were rehabilitated as victims of political repression. These legal acts have not lost their force to date and must certainly be taken into account when considering the issue of criminal prosecution in accordance with Part 1 of Article 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The preamble of the law "On Rehabilitation of victims of Political Repression" declares: "During the years of Soviet power, millions of people became victims of the arbitrariness of the totalitarian state, were subjected to repression for political and religious beliefs, on social, national and other grounds. Condemning the long-term terror and mass persecution of its people as incompatible with the idea of law and justice, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation expresses deep sympathy to the victims of unjustified repression, their families and friends, and declares its unwavering desire to seek real guarantees of the rule of law and human rights."

Today, due to the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses on religious grounds, which was mentioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation on December 11, 2018, many believers became participants in criminal trials, were detained and sent to colonies. And someone, unable to withstand such life circumstances, died during investigative or judicial processes. And again, today, someone is losing their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandparents.

Maybe it's worth putting an end to all this right now and not waiting for it to be necessary to express deep sympathy to the victims of unjustified repression again after a while?

Regarding my accusation, I will only say that my conscience is clear both before people and before God. I do not fully admit guilt in the crime imputed to me.

As a Christian, the very idea of such low acts as extremism is alien to me. 1 John 4:8 says, "Whoever does not love has not known God, because God is love." Fulfilling these words, I have always treated and treat with deep respect people of any nationality, social status and religious affiliation.

The Bible itself motivates me to meet with my co-religionists, not the statutes of any legal associations. In addition, I got acquainted with the MRO charter only in May of this year, when I was familiarizing myself with the materials of the current criminal case.

Jesus Christ encouraged his followers to take an interest in each other, encouraged unity, joint confession of faith. In John 13:35, Jesus says: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for each other." Since the 1st century AD, Christians have been gathering together. At that time, they had no idea about any MRO or legal devices.

An example for me is Jesus Christ, the son of God. While living on earth, Jesus reflected love in all his words and deeds. He put himself in the place of people who were having a hard time and provided help. He told people about his Father and remained polite and compliant, even when it wasn't easy. When Jesus was insulted, tried and led to execution, he did not utter an insulting word, but said in prayer to God: "Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

Heavenly Father wants every person to hone such qualities that would promote love, joy, peace, long-suffering, virtue, mercy, faith, meekness, self-control. It is precisely these God-pleasing qualities that are acquired when discussing the Bible.

I have the legal right to meet with my co-religionists, discuss spiritual topics, and hone my Christian qualities. Such rights are given to me by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Article 28, where everyone is guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to profess individually or jointly with others any religion, to spread religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them.

Article 19 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation — "The state guarantees equality of human and civil rights and freedoms regardless of ... attitude to religion, beliefs ... Any form of restriction of citizens' rights on the grounds of ... religious affiliation is prohibited."

In his speech, the State prosecutor proposed to find me guilty and impose a criminal sentence of 3 years in a penal colony. The word "corrective" usually implies correction from bad to better. I did not cause any physical or moral damage to anyone, I did not steal anything, I did not quarrel with anyone, I faithfully fulfilled and fulfill my labor and civil obligations. So which way do they want to "fix" me?

In the book of Micah 6:8 it is written: "O man! You have been told what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love works of mercy, and to walk humbly before your God." This is exactly the path of life I have chosen.

In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to you, Your Honor, for the opportunity to go to a doctor in another city, for the careful consideration of the case, for the opportunity to defend yourself. I also want to thank the public prosecutor for respecting the dignity of each participant in the process; the assistant judge and the secretary for their work, for providing documents to the employer.

I would like to express my gratitude to the lawyers for their kind attitude towards the defendants and the implementation of the defense for a long time, although it was sometimes difficult. Many thanks to parents, relatives and friends who, despite their life difficulties, have always been encouraging and supportive during this difficult time.

Summary of the case

Region:

Saratov region

Locality:

Balakovo

What is suspected of:

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

Criminal case number:

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