The last word of the defendant Savely Gargalyk in Surgut

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Savely Gargalyk in Surgut

November 10, 2023

Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

In his speech, the defendant told how his life had changed thanks to the Bible: "I became much happier, became an exemplary family man, a good husband and father." He stressed: "There is no way I can be an extremist and think like an extremist."

Transcript of the court session in the Surgut City Court dated 11/10/2023 in the case № 1-27/2023 (1-130/2022; 1-1348/2021) on the charges of Gargalyk Savely Georgievich and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Gargalyk Savely Georgievich:

Your Honor, dear court, dear participants in the process! I would like to address you with the last word to express my gratitude for your work and contribution to the maintenance of law and order.

It is noteworthy that the Bible also speaks about the important role of power. In Romans 13:4 it is written: "For the chief is God's servant, for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for he does not wear a sword in vain: he is God's servant." The "servant of God" is the government and its legal representatives who protect law and order, provide security and protection services and sentence criminals.

I fully recognize that God has authorized secular authorities to solve civil and criminal cases, which, in accordance with the law, can impose fines on offenders, as well as detain them. Romans 13:1 says, "Let every soul submit to higher authorities, because there is no authority not from God; the existing authorities occupy the places assigned to them by God."⁠. I appreciate this human-established and God-approved order of things, including the use of judicial and legal measures.

Although prisons were not provided for in ancient times among the people of Israel to maintain order, suspects were sometimes taken into custody. After all, his people were ruled by the great Lord himself and the highest Judge of the whole earth in one person!

Today we are not in ancient Israel, but I have been charged under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — the organization of the activities of the MRO in the city of Surgut, in respect of which the court has made a legally binding decision to liquidate in connection with the implementation of extremist activities. And almost all the accused are charged by the prosecution with committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — collecting funds deliberately intended to support extremist activities.

It happened suddenly, but already now I understand that the events of February 15, 2019 changed my life and my family's life forever, dividing it into before and after.

The search lasted from 06:00 in the morning to 12:00 in the afternoon, then my wife and I were taken to the Investigative Committee at Ostrovsky 47, on a white gazelle belonging to the Surgutneftegaz organization. It was like a bolt from the blue — after the interrogation, I acquired the status of a suspect, and after a certain time, I was accused of extremism.

It was very hard for my wife, a lot of tears were shed. It's like you're in a stupor, paralyzed. My wife didn't even have the strength to put all the things in the apartment in their places after the search. And all this for only one reason: I am a Jehovah's Witness. The fact that this is actually the case was shown by a search of my house.

Dear court, let me explain why I cannot possibly be an extremist and think like an extremist. The word "extremism" came from Latin. Translated into Russian, it means "extreme, ultimate". Based on the meaning, one can understand the meaning of this phenomenon. It is expressed in adherence to extreme views or measures that run counter to the social or moral principles of society or the state system. The phenomenon of extremism is still being studied, so this term covers all structures of human activity and requires detailed analysis.

I've been thinking about serving God since I was a child. At that time, my father was working as a shepherd, and he entrusted me with herding sheep. The shepherd's life was exceptionally difficult.

No flock grazed without the shepherd's supervision, and he was never free. Since there was little grass, the sheep moved from place to place and needed constant supervision. There were no fenced pastures, and sheep could easily get lost.

I knew that my father would scold me if I lost the herd. One day it started to rain, and the sheep ran away and got lost in the cornfield. Tears welled up in my eyes from impotence and despair. Not knowing what to do, I mentally turned to God: "Lord, help me!" Not knowing how to pray to God, I promised to serve him if he would help me find and gather sheep into one flock.

In the 1990s, I bought a book by Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev (historian, ethnographer, son of two great poets — Anna Akhmatova and Nikolai Gumilev). It was called "Ancient Russia and the Great Steppe". So, a book named "Yahweh", "Yag" and "Jehovah" ended up in my library… Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev does not shy away from going through the Bible, opening up new aspects for the reader.

When I learned from my wife that God's name was Jehovah, I did not believe it, although in my youth, reading the Bible in Old Slavonic, I saw this name… While researching the history of the ancient Jewish people, I learned the name of the God of the Jews, as well as the fact that the Jews who lived in the Khazar khaganate hid the name of God even from their grandchildren. For example, if a Jew married a Khazar woman, the name of God was hidden from the children who were born in this marriage, and if a Jewish woman married a Khazar, then the name of God was revealed to their children. I was impressed.

Communicating with people, I showed in the Bible that God's name is Yahweh, Yag, and explained that this is the short name of God Jehovah. Over time, I began to read the Bible quietly, secretly from my wife. Later on, I began to listen more and delve into what is written in the Bible. Our doors were always open to people of different nationalities who were also familiar with the Bible.

It took me 12 years to quit smoking. Until that time, I had not been able to overcome this bad habit, and neither had others. Later, I remembered my promise to serve God, given by me as a child. The daughter was reading the Bible with her wife. Seeing their attitude, the way their habits and way of life change, I realized that I needed to seriously take up Bible study. I managed to take some small steps towards God every day. Life was developing and changing very seriously. By applying the principles and norms of God in my life, I became much happier and felt peace of mind. The principles of the Bible have helped me to change a lot.: to become an exemplary family man, a good husband and father. We have been married for 36 years. I began to feel more confident, worthy, and very glad that I found such a God, whose name is Jehovah. I have new friends, a new social circle, new interests in life, hobbies.

Reading the Bible and reflecting, I learned that God is love. The attractive qualities of the Creator deeply touched my heart. The author of the Bible, Jehovah, says that he "tests the heart and kidneys"; his Son also "examines the kidneys and hearts." "For you are a righteous God, you search the heart and the innermost feelings" (Psalm 7:9). Just as a person melts silver, Jehovah can "melt", or purify, a person's kidneys and heart, and as a result, a person becomes righteous before Jehovah, as he begins to pay more attention to his words. And I am very grateful to the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses for helping me to better understand the norms and principles that are written in the Bible, because thanks to this I stopped getting drunk, insulting my wife, and engaging in physical abuse.

On February 15th, my whole family, friends, relatives and neighbors were shocked. How glad I am that my parents are not alive today! In what sense? They don't see what they're accusing me of. They've been trying to raise me to be a good citizen all my life. When I became a believer and got rid of bad habits, the state made me an extremist. If my parents were alive today, how sad it would be for them! But I am glad that I found out that there will be a Sunday of the dead, and I will definitely tell them about what I had to go through. How happy they will be that their son has remained faithful to God!

On February 15, 2019, 9 people came to my house. Two of them were in black clothes, masks, with machine guns, they ran through the apartment and left. And the others staged this search and accused me of extremism. I am glad of this, because my faith has been strengthened even more. It gives me confidence that I am on the right path.

The fact that they came to arrest me early in the morning and accuse me of extremism is somewhat similar to how Jesus Christ was arrested. Just imagine what Jesus went through on the last day of his life on earth: arrest, false accusations, an unfair sentence, the ridicule of the crowd, the mockery of Roman soldiers. For what violation or sin was Jesus punished? No one could find anything to accuse him of. He was a kind, courageous, honest and decent man. He was a perfect man, that is, a sinless man. He was the Son of God. But that didn't stop those who wanted him dead. They made far-fetched false accusations and obtained a conviction and the death penalty. They considered it blasphemy that Jesus called himself the Son of God. And in Revelation 1:5 it is written that Jesus Christ is "A faithful witness."

I am being judged because I am a Jehovah's Witness and believe in the name of God, that I refuse blood transfusion, that is, the treatment that doctors offer. Then why did I have three surgeries? However, the first one was with a blood transfusion, because I was unconscious… The second and third operations were performed without blood transfusion, as I signed an agreement for a bloodless operation, and I was operated on. Dear state prosecutor, so what is my fault here?

In the 19th century, the name of the God Jehovah was also widely used by Russian poets and writers. The name of Jehovah was even on coats of arms and banners. Did you know that the name of God was mentioned even in the laws of the Russian Empire? You can open the "Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire" on the Internet, volume 8, enter page 619 in the search. It's 1732. At that time, educated people in Russia freely used the name of God Jehovah. Then it was written a little differently than today, — Egova.

Almost three centuries have passed, and how our world has changed! Now the name of God is actually banned. All books where the name Jehovah is found are withdrawn from the believer…

In tsarist Russia, during the era of serfdom, captured fugitive convicts, in order to hide their past, said that they did not remember anything — neither their name, nor their kinship, nor their place of birth. Therefore, the police recorded them all as "not remembering their kinship." Hence their nickname "Ivan Nepomnyashchy".

I am not Ivan without conviction, who does not remember kinship. I am A Jehovah's Witness.

I act not only according to the law of the state, but also according to the law of God, which says that one must obey God and please him with one's thoughts and deeds, as well as love one's neighbor as oneself (Matthew 22:39). That's why I try to do good and live in peace with all people.

As a Jehovah's Witness, I live according to my conscience, I pay taxes. Before the ban, I participated in clean—up days, and after that - in several cleaning places in Surgut. I have no rent debt. I obey authority not only out of fear of punishment, but also out of conscience, as it says in Romans 13:5: "So you have a good reason to obey, not only out of fear of punishment, but also in order to have a clear conscience." My conscience does not allow me to cause harm or suffering to anyone, because Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:12: "Therefore, in all things, as you want people to do to you, so do you to them; for this is the law and the prophets."

As far as I know, there is no evidence that Jehovah's Witnesses incited anyone to violence. We encouraged Mironov to love people, to be honest, and not to lie or hate someone. I or anyone else did not involve Mironov in any religious organization. Listening to the recording, we didn't hear anything like that. So it turns out that Mr. Mironov is lying.

In most countries, Jehovah's Witnesses, as a rule, enjoy the reputation of honest and moral people, and in our country too. Many consider them good neighbors, employees at work, who do not cause any worries. In 2009, at the international congress in Berlin, Germany, on the fourth day of the congress, a letter of thanks was read from the Chief of Police of Berlin, where he thanked Jehovah's Witnesses for calm, cleanliness, order in the stadium, and in the vicinity, as well as for the fact that his police officers, who had been on duty all these four days near The stadium, we had a good rest.

However, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, peace—loving Christians have repeatedly faced unfair persecution - both in wartime and in peacetime. But such opposition does not surprise them. On the contrary, they even expect it. Knowing that the faithful Christians of the first century A.D. were hated, how can those who today try to be a true follower of Christ expect to be treated differently? After all, Jesus himself said in Matthew 10:22: "Everyone will hate you because of my name, but whoever stands to the end will be saved."

In addition, the Bible says: "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).

Jehovah's Witnesses observe neutrality in matters of politics and do not participate in wars, which is sometimes misinterpreted as a betrayal of their country. As a Jehovah's Witness, I recognize Jehovah as the Lord of the universe. His law is above all else. Voluntarily submitting to human governments, I give "Caesar's to Caesar." However, nothing can stop me from fulfilling a much more important duty— to give "God's to God." It is written about this in Matthew 22:20, 21: "Jesus asked them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They replied: "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "So give Caesar's to Caesar, and God's to God."

Jesus mentioned the Roman emperor. "Caesarean" includes payment for services provided by the government, as well as respect for government officials and submission to their demands, if they do not contradict the instructions of God. A person gives "God's to God" when he worships him with all his heart, loves him with all his soul and obeys him in everything. I have found God and cherish his righteous norms and principles.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Happy are the merciful, because mercy will be shown to them" (Matthew 5:7).

Dear court, Your Honor, the defenders and the prosecution! I thank everyone for the patience that has been shown to me, to my friends, for your attention and your efforts. Your Honor, when making a decision, I ask you to consider my explanations, the explanations of my defenders, my characteristics and my religious beliefs, as well as copies of my medical statements.

Your Honor, I ask you to acquit both me and my co-religionists 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