The last word of the defendant Sean Pike in Moscow

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Sean Pike in Moscow

December 22, 2023

Moscow

Sean Pike explained in detail to the court the difference between the activities of a legal entity and religious services: "The MRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow cannot have the right to trademark the actions of religious people. These actions are not a trademark. I personally perform these actions because I love God."

Transcript of the court session in the Cheremushkinsky District Court of Moscow dated 12/22/2023 in the case 01-0211/2023 on charges of Pike Sean Antonio, Rumyantsev Alexander Vyacheslavovich and Sviridov Eduard Vyacheslavovich of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Pike Sean Antonio:

Thank you, Your Honor. I want to say that I took into account your recommendations and yesterday's instructions, so I tried to be brief and, as you indicated, closer to the point.

I am accused of continuing the activities of the local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow. Your Honor, before this criminal case, I had not heard about this organization, I had never been a member of this organization, I had never discussed anything about this organization with anyone, I had not agreed with anyone on the continuation of the activities of this organization unknown to me. I want to draw your attention to the fact that there are twins. They look the same, but inside they are different, their DNA is different, their characters are different, their personalities are different. So is this case, Your Honor. There are two different things: there is the MRO of Jehovah's Witnesses and there is religion. These are two completely different things, and they are different from each other, although they may look similar.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that I was not familiar with this organization and for the first time saw the charter of this organization only by studying the materials of the criminal case. What I have read is the usual business of religious people. Since this statute was registered by the Ministry of Justice, it means that all the provisions in this statute were legal. At work, I read the charters of various commercial organizations, and these charters indicate that they all have the right to make transactions. But this does not mean that any person who makes transactions performs the statutory activities of this commercial organization, whose statutes I have read. The same goes for religion, Your Honor. Any person who performs legitimate activities that are recorded in the charter of a certain organization does not automatically mean that this person performs the statutory activities of this organization. Before the creation of the Jehovah's Witnesses MPO in Moscow, believers in Moscow and in Russia as a whole exercised their right to use Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the 125th Federal Law, to worship God. They performed the same legal activity that was recorded in the statute of the Ministry of Justice of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow. Personally, no one consulted with me about writing anything down in the statute of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow.

As I pointed out earlier in our case, I have been serving God since 1997 and listening to divine services to him. What do I belong to in this service? What is the state prosecutor accusing me of? This includes singing songs, talking to others about my religious beliefs, that is, the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, and meeting with believers. Each of these actions is based on a specific Scripture, the Bible. You asked me not to quote the Bible, so I won't quote, but I'm telling you that each of these actions points to a specific verse. If you want, I can show them to you later. And it is known that in the Bible itself these instructions were written down 1900 years before the appearance of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow. Therefore, the MRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow cannot have the right to trademark the actions of religious people. These actions are not a trademark. I personally perform these actions because I love God, I believe the Bible, God. And I think the Bible is the book through which I read his laws. But what is important, Your Honor, is that the services for me are not limited to those actions that the public prosecutor cites or that are indicated in the case file. For me, worship services are much broader than what is indicated there and than what is indicated in the statute of the Ministry of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow.

I am guided by two principles in my life. The first principle is: "Love your God Jehovah with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind," and the second: "Love your neighbor as yourself." These principles apply to all areas of my life. My home should be safe for me and my children. The way I dress should be decent. I treat others with respect and conduct my financial affairs honestly. This is indicated by the certificates that I presented to you yesterday. That I transferred more than a million rubles back to the employer because there was an overpayment. No one had to persuade me. I saw it, said it, and translated it back. It's not my money. It's just the kind of behavior God and the Bible expect from me. This is not written in the statute of the Ministry of Justice of Jehovah's Witnesses in Moscow. I live according to the Bible. And why is this important, Your Honor? Because worship is not only those actions that are specified in the charter. It's wider, much wider. And it is dictated by the Bible, not by the charter of some legal organization.

I show love to people regardless of their religion and origin. For example, I have been in jail for more than 2 years. A lot of things happened, but I want to tell you one case. Two of my former neighbors quarreled with each other, and with the help of the Bible, I helped everyone understand that he was wrong. They apologized to each other and peace was restored. One of them was a Muslim, and the other was an Orthodox Christian. It didn't matter who they were. Your Honor, understand that peace is important. And when they left our cell, everyone hugged, and everything was fine.

The way I live and behave is evident from the numerous recommendations from employers and clients of various projects. Clients and employers do not belong to any particular religion, they are different. But they see how I behave towards them, towards their employees, towards their interests. They have given the appropriate recommendations and characteristics that are in front of you. The fact that I worked for one company for more than 10 years and was promoted from the position of project manager to senior head of the project team of this company speaks not only about professionalism and skills. This shows that I show respect to people, regardless of who they are, because the people in this company are different: from different countries, different religions. The fact that I was promoted is partly a result of my spiritual upbringing and the way my parents raised me. That is, I want to draw attention to the fact that my service to God is not limited to a few points of the charter of an organization, it is much larger, much broader. And I get my guidance for serving God from the Bible. I have been living like this for 26 years, and 2 years of the existence of this organization has not affected me in any way.

Your Honor, I am accused of possessing and distributing prohibited religious literature. There are no such facts in the case — not a single publication, not a single fact of distribution. There is an accusation, although there are no facts. I am accused of professing my religion and thus harming the state. But this is not the case. I show kindness to other people and learn this quality from God. The case file mentions a flash drive with data on my work activities, from which it can be seen that I collaborated with a well-known agency in a project to attract investment in the development of factories in the Russian Federation for the production of cars. The plant was successfully built, the work was done. In addition, I have spoken at various international conferences to talk about the experience of implementing projects in the Russian Federation in order to attract investment in the construction of production facilities in the Russian Federation. My actions have brought benefits to the Russian Federation, not harm.

Your Honor, I am a deeply religious person, and serving God, according to the principles set forth in the Bible, is the meaning of my life. By doing them, I please the heart of God, as a child pleases a father. The manifestation of hatred and hostility towards other people, regardless of their religions, races and origin, does not please God, but only distances him from him. This is unthinkable for me. I have done nothing wrong against the law of our country and against God, for which I must stand before you in the courtroom. Therefore, Your Honor, I ask you to make a fair decision and acquit me and my friends. Thanks!

Summary of the case

Region:

Moscow

Locality:

Moscow

Criminal case number:

12102450035000080

Initiated:

August 24, 2021

The current stage of the case:

the appeal

Is being investigated by:

SU for the Southern Administrative District of the GSU of the IC of Russia for Moscow

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

01-0211/2023 (01-1003/2022)

Court of First instance:

Cheremushkinsky District Court

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Sergey Khomyakov