The last word of the defendant Sergei Korolev in Akhtubinsk

 RUSSIA

The last word of the defendant Sergei Korolev in Akhtubinsk

April 12, 2023

Astrakhan region

From the courtroom

In the last word, the defendant refuted four common prejudices against Jehovah's Witnesses. Explaining that there is no extremism in his faith, Korolev asked the court to acquit him and added: "Whatever [the verdict], my love for God, for people and the Bible will not cool down."

Transcript of the court session in the Akhtuba District Court of the Astrakhan region dated 04/12/2023 in case No. 1-9/2023 (1-342/2022) on charges of Korolev Sergey Vasilyevich 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.

Korolev Sergey Vasilyevich:

In the first words, I would like to express my gratitude to you, Your Honor, for your patience, humanity, and respectful and dignified attitude towards me and my defenders. I would also like to thank the state prosecutors who took part in the trial — Svetlana Konstantinovna Gracheva, Elena Ivanovna Semenova for their professional approach to the case; my lawyers Olga Fedorovna Andreeva and Maxim Vyacheslavovich Novakov — I felt calm and confident with such defenders. And also thanks to the assistant judge Margashov Vladimir Vitalievich, the bailiffs on duty in the courtroom, the guards of the IVS, and of course, to all those who came and came from different cities and even countries to support us. For a while, our lives and our interests were intertwined within the walls of this building.

Before the trial began, I could not even imagine what a difficult job judges have, and how many rumors and prejudices revolve around them. When you communicate with other prisoners, everyone is usually interested in 2 questions: which article and who is the judge. And that's how a certain opinion gradually develops: such and such a judge is kind, this one is strict, and that one is completely cruel. You don't know the person personally yet, but prejudice already appears. However, as often happens in life, when you communicate and observe more closely, the prejudice disappears. It was the same here: what some prisoners say about you, the image they have created, does not correspond to what I have seen and heard over these months. And I am grateful to God that you were the judge in this process.

Also, in the person of the assistant prosecutors, I saw wonderful women who tried to do their job well, and special thanks for the wonderful reading. They say about lawyers by appointment that they work for law enforcement agencies, and about lawyers by agreement — "money is wasted." With regard to my defenders, I can confidently say the opposite.

Yes, prejudice and prejudice only do harm. And I am well aware of this, because there are many prejudices against Jehovah's Witnesses, also based only on rumors or someone's fears. The first and most dangerous prejudice is that Jehovah's Witnesses are banned in our country. But, as this process has shown, this is really just an unfounded prejudice. However, the media is making great efforts to spread this lie, and unfortunately, some representatives of the law enforcement system are also in thrall to this prejudice.

It can be said that the persecution to which Jehovah's Witnesses are subjected in some regions of Russia is nothing more than the result of the biased attitude of some law enforcement officials towards Jehovah's Witnesses, and the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the liquidation of the "Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" is used only as a reason for such aggression. And for this reason, Jehovah's Witnesses are forced to take security measures — not in order to "hide illegal activities," as the investigative authorities claim, but simply for personal safety and for the safety of their family members: children, life partner, parents.

But here I would like to note one important point: during the entire time of my imprisonment, I have not met a single person who would be glad that I am in prison for my faith. On the contrary, everyone is surprised that such a thing is even possible, and some sincerely sympathize. But this is not surprising for those who are familiar with the Bible. After all, in fact, the whole Bible is a story about people who were persecuted for their faith. Noah, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the apostles Peter, Paul, John are just some examples. It is very interesting about these people written in the New Testament, in the epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Hebrews, chapter 11: "They conquered kingdoms by faith, did the truth, avoided the edge of the sword, strengthened themselves from infirmity, experienced abuse and beatings, as well as bonds and prison, wandered, suffering shortcomings, sorrows, bitterness; those who are all The world was not worthy, they wandered through deserts and mountains."

There have always been persecutions for the faith — both in the past, as we read in the Bible, and now. And the persecutors have never succeeded in achieving their goal of destroying faith. A variety of powerful rulers tried to do this: the Pharaoh in Egypt, the Babylonian and Assyrian kings, the emperors of Rome, King Herod (his name has generally become a household name), from modern history one can recall Hitler, who swore to destroy Jehovah's Witnesses, and before the Holocaust, a significant part of the prisoners in concentration camps were Witnesses; and Stalin, who followed a similar policy. All these rulers and their deeds are now a dead story, and the Jehovah's Witnesses they fought against are a living reality. And here's what's interesting: There is no Management Center, but there are Jehovah's Witnesses. This means that a Management center is not needed to read the Bible, to pray, to live as it is written in the Bible. Fortunately, many people in power in our country understand all this perfectly well, and therefore the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited.

Another prejudice against Jehovah's Witnesses: they are supposedly waiting for the end of the world. An amendment needs to be made here: they are not waiting for the end of the world, but the beginning of a new world. And it is strange that this is so acutely perceived, because modern cinema, literature, and music abound with ideas about a new beautiful world where there will be no problems, suffering, and death.

At one time I liked fiction. According to some estimates, one of the greatest works in the award-winning science fiction genre is Isaac Asimov's trilogy "The Foundation", written about 70 years ago. This is a work about a new world, about a new human family, about unity and harmony. In prison, I read another fantasy novel, also the trilogy of the modern Chinese writer Liu Qixing "Memories of the Earth's Past" — this work also received all the famous prizes in the field of literature, and some observers even say that it is impossible to come up with anything more ambitious in the field of science fiction. What is this novel about? The same is true about the insoluble problems of society and humanity's aspirations for a new world. A short quote from this novel: "After seeing this brave new world, Luo Ji burst into tears. He felt reborn in every cell of his body. And the past… it really was a dream."

So it seems obvious that a lot of people would like a new world. Therefore, when Jehovah's Witnesses talk about eternal life in wonderful conditions on earth, they talk about what films have already been made, books have been written, songs have been sung — yes, many just dream about it! In a recent interview with the famous Russian writer and public figure Alexander Prokhanov (his interview was published in the newspaper "Interlocutor" No. 47, 2022), they asked: "Would you like to live a thousand years?" He replied, "Yes, I would like to live three thousand years, because I believe that a person dies before he reaches revelation. If a person lived long and healthy, he would have lived to an age when the great secrets and meanings of what he lives in the universe would have been revealed to him. As it is, he dies with only a slight feeling of what is in store for him." And I would also like to live and not die, in a world without disease, without old age, without death; in a just world of equal opportunities and endless prospects. As it is sung in a popular modern song: "One day I will wake up, and the world around me is different — bright, clean, infinitely beautiful... and there will be no angry faces, but I do not agree to anything less," and these are not children's dreams at all.

Of course, there are significant differences in ideas about the means by which a new world will be established. Jehovah's Witnesses are convinced that only God can do this. Only God alone can remove the main obstacle on the way to a new civilization, the main cause of human misery and suffering. In the New Testament, in the 1st epistle of the apostle John, in the 3rd chapter, it is written about this: "For this reason the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil." Only God can destroy the works of the Devil, and for this purpose he sent his son to earth — a weapon of light against the forces of darkness.

Explaining the reason that people get sick and die, the Apostle Paul wrote in the Epistle to the Romans, the 5th chapter: "Sin entered the world by one man, and death by sin, and death passed on to all men." An angel who rebelled against God, who was called the Devil, slandered his Creator and deceived the first people, Adam and Eve. As a result, our forefathers turned away from God and lost hope of living forever in the Garden of Eden. They were banished from paradise, gradually aged and died. Deprived of the source of eternal life, the first people passed on sin and imperfection to all their descendants, including you and me. It can be said that Adam infected himself and his entire family with a deadly virus.

Of course, the loving God could not calmly look at this tragedy, and he prepared an event to save humanity. As already mentioned, God assigned the main role in this rescue operation to his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus, like that risen angel, was from the heavenly family of God, not from the descendants of Adam. Therefore, he was born of Mary as a perfect child, sinless, and he retained perfection until his death. The Bible describes it this way: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3). Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became the medicine, the vaccine against the deadly disease that we received from Adam.

Nisan 14, 33 A.D. according to the Jewish lunar calendar (approximately March — April) according to our calendar, became the most important day in the history of mankind — the day of liberation, the day when the perfect, sinless man Jesus Christ gave his life for the sins of all imperfect people who have ever lived and ever will live. The Devil's work was ruined. Humanity has received the long—awaited freedom from sin and death - the hope of eternal life has returned. This means that the paradise lost by Adam and Eve will be restored — people will be able to live in paradise on earth not for 1000 years, not 3000 years, but forever, in a bright, clean, endless, beautiful world, and the past ... the past will remain only a dream.

There is another prejudice against Jehovah's Witnesses — we have heard about this more than once at court sessions — "they have their own Bible." This conclusion is usually made on the basis that Witnesses often use the name of Jehovah, saying that this word is not in our Bible, it is written in your Bible, in the Jehovah's Bible. I have a Bible in my hands, which I have been reading in jail for a year and a half, during which time I have managed to reread it three times. There is a seal "Checked by an inspector" — this Bible has been checked. The title page reads: "The translation of the Bible into Russian was started by the Russian Bible Society at the highest command of Emperor Alexander I in 1816, resumed by the Highest permission of Emperor Alexander II in 1858, completed and published with the blessing of the Holy Synod in 1876." That is, this is a Synodal translation — the official translation of the Bible of the Russian Orthodox Church. Is there a name of Jehovah in it? We'll see. For example, the book of Exodus, chapter 33, verse 19, or here on the next page, chapter 34, verse 5. These are not the only places in the Synodal Translation where the name of Jehovah occurs.

Still, the question remains: are there other Bibles? The Bible itself answers: the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 40: "All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the color withers, and the word of our God will last forever." The Bible is God's word to people, a message addressed to humanity, it has not changed for thousands of years. Emperor Peter the Great put it this way: "The Gospel teaching and its light are the essence of God's knowledge, it is most needed in life." That is why great efforts have been made in all ages to make the Bible understandable to ordinary people. Therefore, the Bible is being translated into languages all over the world, and newer, more understandable and convenient translations are being published.

Take, for example, our Russian language. In the 150 years since the appearance of the Synodal Translation, it has changed a lot. I will open the same book of Exodus, chapter 15, verse 3: "The Lord is a man of war, Jehovah is his name." Again we see the name Jehovah, but what does "the man of battle" mean? We have not said "swearing" for a long time, now it is the word "war". And in modern translations, this text will be like this: "The Lord is a warrior, Jehovah is His name."

Or here is the prayer "Our Father", it is repeated by heart by millions of people: "Our Father who is in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name." And in the Old Slavonic language in the Bible of the time of Peter I, this phrase sounds like this: "Father who art in heaven." Again, we have not used such words as "Father", "who is", "who art" for a long time. And in modern translations, this phrase will sound simply: "Heavenly Father." Otherwise, it seems that you need to pray only in Old Slavonic, as if God does not understand modern Russian.

That's why Jehovah's Witnesses choose the best — what will bring more benefit, will be more convenient and comfortable to understand. Let me make this comparison: reading a modern translation of the Bible is like switching from an old car model to a modern business class car — comfort, speed, reliability, pleasure.

I would like to touch on another prejudice against the name of Jehovah. As we have seen, it is in the Bible, both in the Synodal translation and in modern ones. An attentive reader will see this. It was difficult for me to accept the fact that God has such an unusual name for a Russian person. But I reasoned as follows: everything has names — people, stars, cities, islands, streets — even we give names to animals. And the Creator of everything should also have a personal name — it's reasonable. The prayer "Our Father", which we remembered, also indicates this. The phrase "Hallowed be Thy name" raises a natural question: what is the name of the heavenly Father? No other personal name other than Jehovah is mentioned in the Bible.

Although, to be honest, we don't know exactly how to pronounce the name of God. When I was asked what God's name was, I replied — Yahweh, which, in principle, is also true. It's all about writing that name. It was written in one of the oldest languages on earth, the language in which the books of the Old Testament were written. These are 4 consonant letters — the tetragrammaton. None of the scientists and theologians disputes the fact that these 4 letters are the name of the God of the Bible. But then the problem arises. In this language, the written alphabet had no vowels, only consonants, that is, instead of "phone" they would write "tlfn", instead of "tablet" — "plnsht", instead of "table" — "stl" and instead of "chair" — also "stl". They added vowel sounds according to meaning or context. These 4 letters are Yod, He, Vav, He, abbreviated YHVH. Further, only guesses: Yahweh, Jehovah, Jehovah — we don't know for sure. However, the last variant of "Jehovah" has firmly established itself in the Russian language and has become the traditional spelling of the name of God.

For the same reason, we do not know exactly how the name of Jesus Christ was pronounced — Yeshua, or Yehoshua. But here, most likely, something else is important: by using someone's name, we show our attitude towards him, just as by deliberately not using someone's name, we also show our attitude. And in different languages, the pronunciation will still be noticeably different. The name Jehovah is translated into Russian by the phrase: "He gives you to become," that is, the bearer of this name can carry out any of his plans, absolutely any. He gives you to become, or makes your every desire exist. It is quite clear that such a unique name can only belong to the Creator.

You know, Your Honor, in our age of unbelief, selfishness, atheism, I really want to stand up for God's name, as a child, when someone slanders his parents, I want to say firmly: "This is not true! My dad is good!" I have a similar attitude, because there are a lot of lies about God, and many simply do not believe in him. So I want to be a Witness — to say that there is a loving heavenly Father and show what is written about him in the Bible.

Let me give you one good example — I am a photographer myself and I am engaged in photographic equipment, so this topic is close to me. The eyes of many living creatures are arranged in the same way: pupil, lens, retina, studded with photosensitive elements — cones and rods. Any camera works the same way. So, the retina of the eagle's eye contains 1 million photosensitive cones for every square millimeter (in humans — 200 thousand). That is, the digital resolution of the eagle eye is more than 300 Mp (72 MP in humans), which is much higher than the resolution of the matrices of the most modern cameras. A few years ago, as far as I know, only 2 companies in the world produced digital matrices for everyone: Sony and Canon. Which one made the eagle eye?

Therefore, if we begin to doubt the existence of the Creator, look into the eyes. Not necessarily an eagle, you can have your favorite cat. Or here: at night, raising your eyes to the sky, you can see our galaxy, the Milky Way, — a complex mechanism similar to a perfect clock, only much more complicated. Good, expensive watches are compared to works of art. Why not say the same about the Milky Way — it's a real work of art. And who is the master?

Therefore, if we begin to doubt the existence of the Creator, look into the eyes. Not necessarily an eagle, you can have your favorite cat. Or here: at night, raising your eyes to the sky, you can see our galaxy, the Milky Way, — a complex mechanism similar to a perfect clock, only much more complicated. Good, expensive watches are compared to works of art. Why not say the same about the Milky Way — it's a real work of art. And who is the master?

And finally, I recently read an interesting article in the newspaper Argumenty I Fakty (issue No. 48, 2022) about navigation. It turns out that birds navigate by the earth's magnetic field. Vladimir Paevsky, a leading researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, says: "The animal's body is able to "understand" where it is in relation to the goal and choose the right direction. But scientists are still arguing about how this is implemented. Magnetic orientation is not available to people." That is, a person with all the achievements of science will not be able to repeat this technology. And how great it would be to create a navigator in a car that does not need GPS or GLONASS satellites, does not need the Internet, does not need charging — only the Earth's magnetic fields and that's it. But alas… And again, the logical question is: who gave the birds such a perfect navigation system?

Your Honor, as you have noticed, I like to talk about the Bible and about God — if it is forbidden by law, then condemn me, if not— then let me go. Once, at the stage, I had an interesting conversation with one convicted of murder. We were talking about the Bible, and he was just pouring out quotes. It turned out that he had read the Bible in the camp and remembered something. I told him, "Look, we've both read the Bible, but I'm willing to sacrifice my freedom for it, and you're not. Why?". "I don't know," he replied. "The difference is that I found a treasure in the Bible that is more valuable to me than freedom, and you didn't find it." Yes, Your Honor, when a man finds this treasure in the Bible, he can no longer remain silent. And this is not fanaticism, and certainly not extremism, but simply a desire to help others — to share this treasure with them. In the Proverbs of Solomon, the 8th chapter, it is written: "Accept my teaching, not silver; knowledge is better, not choice gold; because wisdom is better than pearls and nothing desired can compare with it."

Human life is filled with questions and tasks, sometimes unsolvable. The Bible provides answers and solutions. Take, for example, the recent presidential decree "On the approval of the foundations of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values." By the way, there is not a word in the text of the Decree about any particular religion or denomination as dominant in the affirmation of these values in Russian society. So, what values did the president list? I quote from the article of the Argumenty I Fakty newspaper No. 46, 2022: "This is life, dignity, human rights and freedoms, high moral ideals, a strong family, creative work, the priority of the spiritual over the material, humanism, mercy, justice, collectivism, mutual assistance and mutual respect. The family is at the forefront. And it's not just the union of a man and a woman. It also emphasizes the importance of a strong bond between fathers and children, taking care of a decent life for the older generation." Further, we are talking about threats to these values: "the cultivation of selfishness and permissiveness, the destruction of the traditional family and the propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations." But let me say, all this is a tracing paper from the Bible, or rather from the Sermon on the Mount of Jesus Christ (the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5 to 7). In fact, the president subscribed to the biblical values, recognizing them as the basis of state policy. But the Bible not only says that you need to be merciful, fair, put the interests of others above your own, not worry about material things, be generous, respect others, be faithful to your marital companion, raise children and grandchildren correctly, but also explains how to achieve this, that is, gives clear practical guidance.

Take, for example, the institution of the family — in Russia it is falling apart, and the president's concern is absolutely understandable — over 70% of marriages break up. Why do I need to strengthen the house? From the roof? No, from the foundation. A strong family should be based on one fundamental principle, and we have a big problem with this in Russia. It is recorded in the New Testament, the 1st Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 3: "I want you to know that Christ is the head of every husband, the husband is the head of the wife, and God is the head of Christ." This is the principle of primacy: in any team, everyone must obey someone except God. According to the Bible, the husband should be the head of the family. Families with democracy or matriarchy will be unhappy. And what wonderful parenting tips the Bible gives parents! Indeed, biblical wisdom is a real treasure. If I tell my friend, colleague, or prisoner in a paddy wagon about this, is this extremism? Am I committing a crime against the foundations of the state system? "Complete nonsense!" — again, I quote the president. On the contrary, by my actions I am strengthening these very foundations in full accordance with the presidential decree.

In the Russian language, one of the most beloved words is soul, deep and vast, like Russia itself. The Russian soul is broad, generous, vulnerable, heroic. Even in prison, this word is held in high esteem. Instead of "thank you", it is customary to say "from the bottom of your heart". We say "a sincere person" about good people, and "a soulless person" about cruel, cynical, callous people. The soul is wide open — they often talk about Russians, and many foreigners love us for this.

I was born and raised in Russia, and I like living in my country. At one time, some people got scared and left the country — I wasn't going to and I'm not going to. However, I do not like fishing, although many of my relatives are fishermen and hunters. My late father was a good fisherman and hunter. But Katya and I like the sauna — we never deny ourselves this pleasure. We like Akhtubinsk, the city that has become our native city. I like the climate here. But I miss my native places — I'm drawn to Penza, where I was born and grew up. I haven't seen my mother and family for four years: my brother, sisters, and nephews — at first the pandemic was an obstacle, now prison.

Your Honor, I do not know what the verdict of the court will be, although in my case there is no evidence of my guilt, as well as the composition of the crime itself. However, I know for sure: whatever it is, my love for God, for people and the Bible will not cool down — this is the main thing. "The Lord keeps the faithful" is written in the Bible, so I am calm for myself. But my wife, family, and friends need me outside, so freedom is also desirable for me. I would like to end with the words of the wise judge, King Solomon: "Whoever delves into the essence of the matter will be successful." I am sure that in 5 months, Your Honor, you have been able to get to the bottom of the matter. I ask you to make a decision that will elevate justice and justice in our city and strengthen your reputation as a judge who judges without prejudice.

Summary of the case

Region:

Astrakhan region

Locality:

Akhtubinsk

What is suspected of:

According to the investigation, "meetings were organized... including through the use of videoconferencing ... namely in the form of a collective religious worship service, consisting of public playback of audio recordings and video recordings ... consistently performed songs from a special collection of the religious teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses and prayers to Jehovah God."

Criminal case number:

12102120006000100

Initiated:

November 9, 2021

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

Akhtuba interdistrict Investigative Department of the SU IC of the Russian Federation in the Astrakhan region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)

Court case number:

1-9/2023 (1-342/2022)

Court of First Instance:

Akhtubinsky District Court of the Astrakhan region

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Anatoly Proskurin