The last word of the defendant Pavel Romashov in Surgut

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Pavel Romashov in Surgut

November 13, 2023

Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

In his speech, the believer stressed that the prosecution had not revealed extremism in his actions, but only proved that he was a Jehovah's Witness. "Peaceful people who show love not only for their relatives, but also for others, find themselves in the dock," the defendant expressed regret.

Transcript of the court session in the Surgut City Court dated 11/13/2023 in the case № 1-27/2023 (1-130/2022; 1-1348/2021) on the charges of Romashov Pavel Yurievich and others. of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Romashov Pavel Yurievich:

Dear Court, I want to thank you, Dmitry Anatolyevich, and your assistant Zhanna Petrovna for the fact that this difficult process took place in a fairly kind and calm atmosphere. Many thanks to all the lawyers for the work they have done. You had to understand the intricacies of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. You probably planned a completely different schedule for your work, and I can only imagine how the schedule provided angered you and overlapped with other processes in which you were involved. But you have shown remarkable qualities: humility and patience. I would like to express my gratitude to my lawyers, Dmitry V. Chelyshev and Natalia Nikolaevna Kargapoltseva. Thank you for your painstaking and professional approach to this court case and your good-natured attitude towards me and my friends. And I am grateful to my God Jehovah that he helped all of you in this difficult trial.

I can't ignore my beloved wife Viola. Throughout the investigation and litigation, she was by my side: during the search, during the interrogation in the Investigative Committee, at all investigative actions. And now she's around too, because she's a defendant too, just like me. I am proud of my wife that she bravely withstood all the onslaughts and threats of operatives in the Investigative Committee and continues to be courageous despite the fact that she, like me, is facing real imprisonment. Our relationship became even stronger, we began to understand each other better. And this once again confirms the words of Jesus, which are recorded in Matthew 19:6: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. So, let no man separate what God has combined." There is another person to whom I am grateful — this is my daughter Varechka. In 2019, she was 12 years old, and now she is 16. During this time, she has turned from a weak, delicate sprout that was just beginning its journey into this world, where it is scary, sometimes even painful and it is unclear what will happen next, into a strong and beautiful birch tree that has learned to cope with the wind of adversity and not break in difficult situations.

During my time in the convoy, I provided security for the defendants, escorting them to the courtroom and during the trials. And during my work, I had to listen to many last words before people were sentenced. Once, listening to the next last word of the defendant, who was accused of murdering his wife, 7-year-old daughter and newborn son, I heard that he was unrepentant. I thought about the kind of people around us, and I got scared. I remembered this case for a reason. At that time, I thought that only criminals should be isolated from society. But now I see something completely different — peaceful people who show love not only to their relatives, but also to others, find themselves in the dock and speak their last word. And I'm an example of that.

Your Honor, I have said before that I did not commit the crime of which I am accused. And they accuse me of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This means that I organized the activities of a religious association, in respect of which the court made a legally binding decision to liquidate in connection with the implementation of extremist activities and participated in its financing. During the entire trial, I, like all the defendants, did not hear concrete evidence of my guilt. Although the prosecution presented evidence indicating that groups of people professing the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses gathered in residential premises in Surgut, the respected prosecutor did not provide reliable evidence that the people gathered were involved in the local religious organization of Surgut. The purpose of these meetings was exclusively to conduct religious rituals and worship services by believers, which is permitted by the Constitution of the Russian Federation and laws regulating legal relations in the field of religious activity. And this is clearly stated in art. 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, where everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right to profess individually or jointly with others any religion or not to profess any, freely choose, have and disseminate religious beliefs and act in accordance with them.

I think the main mistake of the prosecution is that it does not seek extremism in my actions, but only proves that I am a Jehovah's Witness. And I've never denied it. Your Honor, during the judicial investigation, we examined audio recordings of operational search activities made by witness Mironov. Listening to these recordings, we clearly understood what was going on in the dialogues between Mironov and me. Mironov himself sought meetings in order to supposedly change his life for the better. But at the meeting, instead of studying the Bible, he translated the dialogue with me into his monologue of provocative statements about the government, law enforcement agencies and other religions. I regularly had to bring Mironov back to the topics of Bible study, which were carried out according to plans using the JW assistant application.

Your Honor, neither I nor anyone else who helped me conduct the study with Mironov encouraged him to visit the site www.jw.org which was banned. And the testimony of witness Mironov, which he gave in the courtroom regarding the fact that during the Bible study, he and I constantly visited the site www.jw.org in order to get on the plans and study a particular topic based on the Bible, I ask you to consider it a lie. Witness Mironov gave false testimony because he followed the instructions of the FSB and the prosecutor's office in order to allegedly build an evidence base in the offense of honest and respectable people who call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. Your Honor, the investigation has also not established and the prosecution has not presented any direct evidence that I had an intention to collect funds. In the criminal case, my personal data does not appear in any volume on any documents confirming the transfer of funds.

In the end, I want to quote the words of Jesus Christ recorded in the Gospel of Luke 18:1-7: "Jesus told them a parable that you should always pray and not despair: "In one city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not consider people. There was a widow in the same city who constantly came to him and said, "Help me get justice in the case between me and my opponent." He refused her for a while, but then he thought: "I am not afraid of God and I do not consider people, but this widow constantly bothers me. Therefore, I will help her so that she doesn't come and harass me with her requests anymore." Then the Lord said, "Do you see what the unrighteous judge said? So will God not restore justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night, while he shows them patience?""

Your Honor, I ask you, like all the defendants, to pass a fair acquittal with the right to rehabilitation!

Summary of the case

Region:

Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

Locality:

Surgut

What is suspected of:

"He gave speeches, participated in a preaching service with local Jehovah's Witnesses, held meetings with "pioneers", "elders" and "office 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, the SU IC of the Russian Federation in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

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

The number of the case in court:

№ 1-27/2023 (1-130/2022; 1-1348/2021)

The Court:

Surgut City Court

Judge:

Dmitry Lupin