The last word of the defendant Vitaly Komarov in Moscow

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Vitaly Komarov in Moscow

Mach 27, 2023

Moscow

From the courtroom.

In his speech, Komarov explained to the court that the biblical teachings encourage love, compassion, mercy, caring for one's neighbor and other good deeds, and not hatred and enmity. "How can you call people who try to show such qualities extremists?" he asked.

Transcript of the court session in the Babushkinsky District Court dated 03/27/2023 in the case 1-3/2023 (1-237/2022) on the accusation of Komarov Vitaly Viktorovich of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Komarov Vitaly Viktorovich:

Your Honor, dear participants in the process, the case, which has been considered for more than a year, is coming to an end. I want to thank you that, despite such a long period of time, you have been listening very carefully to the arguments of the parties and examining the case materials throughout this time. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to your secretary and assistant — they have always shown us kindness and provided all possible assistance. I want to thank the Public Prosecutor for the patience he showed us during the trial. I thank our wonderful lawyers, who have done a huge amount of work, as well as my dear relatives and loving co-religionists, who have always been my support and source of strength.

Your Honor, over the past few months, you have learned more about who Jehovah's Witnesses are and what they believe in. During the trial, a lot of printed literature of Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as audio and video materials were reviewed and examined, thanks to which you could make sure that it is extremely important for Jehovah's Witnesses that their creeds are based on the Bible. As you may have noticed, these teachings encourage love, compassion, mercy, caring for one's neighbor and other good deeds, and not hatred and enmity. How can you call people who try to show such qualities extremists? Why, overnight, decent, hardworking and law—abiding people who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses — sometimes for decades - turned into dangerous criminals who deserve the most severe punishment? After all, we are the same people as everyone else.

We do not promote our exclusivity, because we know that we, like everyone else, face common problems: material, emotional, as well as health problems. We also make mistakes at times, because we are imperfect people and are not endowed with holiness and infallibility. And this is one of the reasons why we study the Bible diligently, in order to make the necessary changes in ourselves and not repeat our own mistakes.

And one of the consequences of reading the Bible is that it has helped us to eradicate all kinds of germs of hatred towards all people. In their lives, Jehovah's Witnesses try to live according to the principle that Jesus Christ gave: "In all things, do to people as you want them to do to you" (Matthew 7:12). Everyone wants to be treated kindly, with love and respect, fairly, and wants to live in peace with others.

And in this trial, Your Honor, you could see that these are not empty words. People who do not share the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses have testified to this. They actually saw that what Jehovah's Witnesses talk about and preach about is not at odds with their deeds. And they genuinely don't understand why good people are being persecuted. And this is not surprising. There are no casualties, no damage to property, and no other illegal actions or statements. There is no corpus delicti, no evidence.

I was just using the right that the state granted me as a citizen of the Russian Federation. In the 28th art. The Constitution of the Russian Federation says: "Everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right to profess individually or jointly with others any religion or not to profess any, to freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them."

The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation noted that Jehovah's Witnesses have the right to gather together and profess their faith both personally and jointly, even after the liquidation of the Religious Organization "Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" and local religious organizations. This was also officially stated by other state bodies of the Russian Federation. And this right is not disputed and even confirmed by the investigative authorities.

Your Honor, you could see that there were Jehovah's Witnesses long before the appearance of legal entities. No legal entities are needed to worship God. I ask you to pay attention to one fact: the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the liquidation of the religious organization "Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia" and local religious organizations affected the interests of more than 170 thousand Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia and their family members and was received by Jehovah's Witnesses with great disappointment, but quietly and calmly. This fact itself refutes the claims that legal entities were the highest value for believers and that believers do not recognize state authorities and oppose them.

Jehovah's Witnesses value their relationship with Jehovah's God the most. God Himself has instructed believers to obey the authorities, so they calmly wait for justice to be restored, as it was previously in our country and other states. Until then, they worship God as permitted by the law of the land.

Your Honor, my sincere desire, as well as that of my co-religionists, is to lead a quiet, peaceful life and worship Jehovah God in the way he desires. I am sure that you are convinced of this.

I ask you to find me completely innocent, to restore me to my rights, my reputation as a law-abiding citizen and my good name.

Summary of the case

Region:

Moscow

Locality:

Moscow

Criminal case number:

12002450046000077

Initiated:

November 24, 2020

Current stage of the case:

The appeal

Is investigating:

GSU IC for Moscow

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)

The number of the case in court:

01-0003/2023 (01-0237/2022)

Court:

Babushkinsky District Court of Moscow

Judge:

Evgenia Babinova