The last word of the defendant Oleg Sergeev in Luchegorsk

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Oleg Sergeev in Luchegorsk

January 17, 2024

Primorsky Krai


The defendant stressed: "I did not commit any extremist actions. I was only acting in accordance with my faith in God."


Transcript of the court session in the Pozharsky District Court of Primorsky Krai, Luchegorsk, dated 01/17/2024 in the case 1-22/2023 on charges of Sergeev Oleg Sergeevich and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.


Sergeev Oleg Sergeevich:


First of all, I would like to thank all the participants in the process. Your Honor, thank you for trying to review the case materials competently and without bias during the entire process. Dear Court Secretary, thank you for scrupulously and timely keeping the court records. The prosecution, thank you for highlighting such a large amount of material, which is not always easy to read aloud and in a way that is understandable. You managed to do it clearly, clearly. Separately, I want to say thank you for trying to pronounce the name of God correctly — Jehovah. The defense side, thank you for trying to be indifferent to everything that happened at the trial.


During the trial, the prosecution presented materials allegedly proving my guilt in extremism. The commentary to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation says: "Extremist crimes in this Code are crimes committed on the grounds of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or on the grounds of hatred or enmity against any social group provided for in the relevant articles." None of the material presented in court confirms my motives or actions, hatred or enmity towards anyone.


If you read the case materials, then even without having any academic degree, you can come to the conclusion that the people mentioned there really believe in God. They try to live according to biblical principles, differ from others in good deeds, do not swear, do not encourage them to speak out against the state system. So why is it then that I, as a Jehovah's Witness, am being criminalized just for my religious beliefs?


As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of several cases that happened to Christians of the first century. Imitating Jesus Christ, his followers felt an inner urge to act in accordance with the words of Matthew 24:14: "And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole universe, as a witness to all nations; and then the end will come." By acting in accordance with this command, they also faced persecution and persecution. In the book of Acts, the 4th chapter says: "But that this may no longer be made public among the people, we will forbid them with a threat, so that they do not speak about this name to any of the people. And having called them, they ordered them not to speak or teach about the name of Jesus at all." From a legal point of view, this seems wild. The disciples of Christ did not violate anything. But the court forbade them to talk about Jesus' teachings with other people.


Reflecting on this situation from the point of view of legal proceedings, it can be concluded that those who gave orders did not remain in history with the best reputation. Since the disciples understood that talking about God with people was outside the legal framework of the laws of that time, they were prompted to say the following: "Judge, is it fair before God to listen to you more than to God? We can't help but say what we've seen and heard."


Today, the situation is the same. A person's religious views and beliefs are subject to the law on extremist activity. And the goal, in fact, is to make sure that a believer in God ceases to be such, ceases to live in harmony with faith in God. Even some of my friends and colleagues at work told me: "And you tell the court that you are no longer a Jehovah's Witness, say that you no longer believe in anything. Maybe they'll forgive me."


In the book of Acts, chapter 5, verse 29, it says: "Peter and the apostles answered and said, It is necessary to obey God more than men." Faith in Jehovah God is an area that is beyond the competence of human laws. How can a person, even by establishing some laws, tell another in what relationship with God he should be?


Summing up all that has been said, I want to say: I did not commit any extremist actions. I only acted in accordance with my faith in God, which I gained long before we formed the legal entity "MRO "Jehovah's Witnesses P. Luchegorsk"." And accordingly, as after the termination of this legal entity, I had faith in the Creator, so it remains.


The faith of any person is his own business, it is not regulated by the laws of people. I would also like to believe that our time and modern judicial proceedings will go down in the history of mankind not as a time of repression and persecution due to violations of Articles 28 and 29 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.


Dear court, I ask you to make a fair and wise decision regarding me.


Summary of the case


Region:

Primorsky Krai

Locality:

Luchegorsk

Criminal case number:

12102050012000058

Initiated:

July 16, 2021

Current stage of the case:

proceedings in the court of first instance

Investigating:

From the city of Dalnerechensk to the SU IC of the Russian Federation in the Primorsky Territory

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2), 282.2 (1)

The number of the case in court:

1-6/2024 (1-22/2023; 1-197/2022)

The Court of First Instance:

Pozharsky District Court of Primorsky Krai

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Mikhail Atroshko

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