The last word of the defendant Sergei Volosnikov in Surgut

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Sergei Volosnikov in Surgut

November 13, 2023

Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

Drawing the court's attention to Article 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (on leaving in danger), Volosnikov said: "By preaching, I become guilty before the state, which forbids me to use the constitutional right, but by not preaching, I become guilty before God. The choice is mine, and I've made it."

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

Volosnikov Sergey Vladimirovich:

Dear participants of the process! As one song says, "It was an exciting ride!" And it was actually like riding a steep roller coaster for almost 5 years. The searches, one might say, were the beginning of the "cubicle" movement, and then there were sharp turns in the form of torture. It is sad that the case of torture was simply hushed up, and we were made guilty. The sentence that was requested for us for just reading the Bible, praying and singing songs — all this is a very "cool peak" in my life. No attraction in the world can compare with the emotions that we experienced when visiting these "carousels".

And now, after 5 years, the "cabin" begins to stop. Despite this "fascinating attraction" and such twists in life, I cannot but say thank you to each of those who were involved in this criminal case. I ask you to convey my thanks to the investigators who placed us on our own recognizance. This allowed most of us to fulfill our work responsibilities. I am grateful to those investigators who were not involved in torture and conducted our case with dignity.

Dear prosecutors, I want to thank you too. This case was new to you. I understand that it was not easy for you: on the one hand, you were pressured from above, on the other hand, you were strongly influenced by our innocence. At the same time, you tried to listen carefully and not take our counterarguments, which were heard in the courtroom, personally. Thank you very much!

Dear lawyers, thank you for your work on our defense. You followed your mission day after day — to protect the human souls entrusted to you. But some of you have been protecting us since that very day — February 15, 2019. Of course, we are very grateful to you. You have gained valuable experience in protecting Jehovah's Witnesses. And since the repressive machine against Jehovah's Witnesses has been launched, you will have plenty of work.

Your Honor, this case is also completely new to you, and even more concentration was required from you, because you are a judge, and you have a special responsibility on your shoulders to announce a fair verdict. You tried to delve into this matter carefully. It took a lot of effort from you. You gave time for breaks and tried to take into account the opinions of all participants in the process when setting meeting dates, taking into account the state of health of some of us. Thank you very much! And I especially want to thank you for always letting me go to my parents — it showed your humanity.

I would also like to say thank you to Zhanna Petrovna. Thanks to your work, the process becomes public in print.

And, of course, I want to thank my dear wife Svetlana from the bottom of my heart. You and George are the most precious thing I have. On February 15, when I came home and, unable to contain my emotions, told how operatives interrogated me and my friends, you supported me so much! We've been through a lot in 20 years of living together, and you've become a real support for me. When I was fired and when our courts began to take up all my time and I couldn't earn, the financial burden fell on your fragile shoulders. Thank you, my dear, for your patience. But you may have to be patient a little longer. George, please continue to obey your mother. You're a very good son.

I'll go directly to the last word. Grandmothers are sitting at the entrance and saying: "Did you hear that? What are you talking about! Otherwise! I'm going to tell you." So, because of gossip, the reputation begins to deteriorate. Although this is a fictional dialogue, but several thousand years ago there was a real dialogue recorded in the book of Genesis: "The snake asked the woman, "Did God really say that you cannot eat the fruits of all the trees in the garden?" To this, the woman said to the snake: "We can eat the fruits of the trees in the garden. Only about the fruits of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, "Do not eat its fruits and do not touch it, otherwise you will die." Then the snake said to the woman, "No, you will not die. But God knows that the day you eat his fruit, your eyes will open and you will become like God: you will know good and evil."

What a pain it caused in Jehovah's heart when Eve obeyed a dubious person. When our children do not obey us, it also hurts us, especially if they listen to questionable personalities. What did Jehovah do after these events? And what would we do if someone ruined our reputation? All these events prompted Jehovah to act decisively. Immediately after the sin, God expressed the very first prophecy, and it began to play an important role in the realization of Jehovah's plan. In Genesis 3:15 it is written: "I will make it so that there will be enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring." How fierce will this feud be? "It [the offspring of a woman] will hit you [Satan] in the head, and you will hit him in the heel." I want to make it clear that, according to the Bible, Satan and his descendants are those who will oppose Jesus and those who will keep his commandments.

The promise made in Eden implied that time had to pass for the "serpent" to produce "offspring", and enmity developed between his "offspring" and the "offspring" of the "woman". 4,000 years later, when Jesus was already on earth, he explained that the "serpent" is Satan the Devil. He told his religious persecutors, "Your father is the Devil and you want to fulfill your father's wish. He has been a murderer since he rebelled" (John 8:44). By doing so, he showed that they belonged to the "offspring" of Satan. But the persecution had to continue, because Revelation 12:9, 12 says that when Satan and his angels were thrown to the earth, he "began to persecute the woman," waging "war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and do the work of testifying about Jesus."

The two main tools that Satan has used throughout history are the political system and religion. As follows from the entire biblical story, Satan used the tools mentioned above, feuding with those who tried to do the will of God and preserve righteousness. About 6,000 years have passed since this promise was made. But is there an end to this feud? If we look at this verse again, we will see that one descendant was supposed to be stung in the heel, and the other descendant's head was crushed.

For several years, they have been trying to attribute the most terrible deeds to Jehovah's Witnesses. What have we not heard about ourselves! They're talking about us: they are "trying to change the constitutional system", "incite religious hatred and hostility", "destroy families", "do not treat themselves and forbid others", "they are an American sect" and much more. Information bombardment, as if from a cornucopia, poured into the address of Jehovah's Witnesses. I would like to change the quote from the film "The Caucasian Captive": "Did the Witnesses destroy the chapel too?" But I am very glad that during this long trial, all these speculations were not just refuted, but smashed to smithereens.

Textbooks on history, geography, biology and other books that we study at school and in other educational institutions tell us about how people's lives on our planet work. But only the Bible can tell about what happened several thousand years ago and continues to happen in the spiritual sphere.

Why her? 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God," that is, the creator of the universe, the Creator of people, the earth. Therefore, as an eyewitness to those events and as an author of the Bible, he encouraged writers to talk about the past, that is, about what happened then, explain the present and predict the future.

The thought runs through the entire Bible like a red thread, how Jehovah, through his Son, will fulfill his great plan, namely, to turn the earth into a paradise so that people can live forever again, not get sick, not grow old and not die. God wants there to be no more wars, famine, injustice and crime. Of course, we have to put up with all these problems, including death, but we cannot take it for granted — we do not agree with this and are experiencing serious stress due to the loss of loved ones.

Why is this terrible enemy being rejected every time? Why haven't we gotten used to this outcome of our lives for thousands of years? Because, as it is written in the book of Ecclesiastes 3:11: "He made everything beautiful in his time. He even put eternity into people's hearts." God has put into our consciousness the desire to live as long as possible. And this is a fact. When someone lives 100 years, we call them centenarians. So, after all, a person can live longer. And if you take our brain. It's not a flash drive. The more we feed information to our brain, the more memory develops in it. The Bible tells us that Adam lived for 930 years. This explains why sometimes the first toast at the table sounds like "well, to your health!" Or like in the movie "Office Romance": "So what are we drinking to? Let's keep everyone healthy! A wonderful toast! May everyone be healthy!" And the question arises: should I believe in this? Maybe these are fanatical fantasies?

Then another question arises: should I believe the state in which I live? The state treats (billions of rubles are spent on various studies, drugs, pills), feeds, trains. And the authorities are doing this sincerely, feeling their duty and desire to help their citizens. It's just that we humans are limited in our capabilities, but God is not. Should I doubt that Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, and even pacified the elements? Absolutely not. But the appointed time must come for the fulfillment of Jehovah's promises.

I want to remind Matthew 24:14: "The message of the kingdom will be preached... and then the end will come"; 2 Timothy 3:1-5: "Know that very difficult times will come in the last days"; Matthew 24:3: "The disciples came and asked, "Tell us when this will happen and what will happen a sign that the end of this world is approaching?""For me, there is no question: will all this happen? The question for me is: when will all this happen? The Bible provides a sign by which we can determine whether we live in this period of time. But I want to draw attention to another thought: why is it hard for us to believe in all this?

When Adam and Eve ruined their relationship with God, history began to be written with a distorted view of good and evil. And the further the story went from the beginning, the more contradictory it became. 4,000 thousand years after the sin of Adam and Eve, in Romans 1:25, the Apostle Paul wrote: "They have replaced the truth about God with a lie and worship and serve the creation, and not the Creator, worthy of eternal praise."

I perfectly understand why today the message from the Bible causes disbelief, and some even anger. When mom and dad take a small child from an orphanage and don't tell him about it, and later he finds out the truth, what reaction can you expect from him? It can be completely different — from unwillingness to believe in all this to anger and hatred due to the fact that such information was hidden from him. So it is with the message that is written in the Bible. It's very hard to believe in it, especially when our grandparents in all generations believed in something else. And, it would seem, what difference does it make to me — well, I learned what the Bible says, and I live in peace. Who makes me tell this to others?

I would like to draw attention to Article 125 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which reads: "Knowingly leaving a person in a life- or health-threatening condition without help ... etc. is punishable by a fine, or compulsory labor, or correctional labor, or forced labor, or arrest, or imprisonment."

Now let's compare this to what the Bible says in Ezekiel 3:17-19: "Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the Israelite people. When you hear my words, you will have to warn the people on my behalf. If I say to a sinner, "You will die," and you do not warn him to stop doing evil and save his life, then he will die for his sin, but I will call you to account for his blood."

By preaching, I become guilty before the state, which forbids me to use the constitutional right, but by not preaching, I become guilty before God. The choice is mine, and I've made it.

Summary of the case

Region:

Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug

Locality:

Surgut

What is suspected:

"He made 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)

Court:

Surgut City Court

Judge:

Dmitry Lupin