Oksana Solntseva's last word in Magadan

 RUSSIA 

 

Oksana Solntseva's last word in Magadan

February 12, 2024

Magadan region

To explain that faith in Jehovah God is not a crime, Oksana Solntseva quoted Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Byron and famous physicists in her last word. "The interest in natural sciences, history and art of many people leads to a conscious belief in the living Creator God," she noted.

Transcript of the court session in the Magadan City Court of the Magadan Region dated 12.02.2024 in the case 1-6/2024 (1-12/2023) on the accusation of Oksana Mikhailovna Solntseva of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Solntseva Oksana Mikhailovna:

Dear court and participants in the process! The Bible says, "It is a great gain to be grateful and contented," so I'll start with gratitude. Your Honor, thank you for respecting the name of God and the Bible, as well as for treating us with respect and patience. Thank you for your humor, which brightened up this difficult time. I am grateful to your assistants for their work. It is very valuable that prosecutors have always been friendly, benevolent, correctly pronounced the name of God — Jehovah — and even corrected some lawyers. I am grateful to the lawyers for the fact that they worked hard, with the desire to understand the essence of the accusation and prove our innocence.

Special thanks to dear co-religionists for the example of courage and faith, for their help in difficult times. To all our worldwide brotherhood for their support. All these years we have received letters and gifts, video concerts and excursions have been arranged for us.

The last word is an important part of the trial, and I thought about it for a long time, because a lot has already been said during all this time. The words from the Great Book — the Bible, which is the law for truly believing people, were often heard here, the laws of the Russian Federation and court rulings were quoted. Many examples were given — historical and illustrative. All of them prove the innocence of Russian Jehovah's Witnesses both in the past and today, including those accused in this trial. What would I like to convey in my last word? I will share my feelings and thoughts. Quotations, mainly from the Synodal translation of the Bible, as well as statements by famous people will help me in this.

Surprisingly, despite the severity of the charges and our situation, I can say that the general feeling that was present during the court sessions was joy. From a human point of view, this may seem strange, but in fact there are several reasons for joy. I will name three of them.

Firstly, joy, satisfaction and even happiness arise in the heart when a person has done and continues to do everything that depends on him, and humbly waits for the result. It looks like a farmer rejoices in his work.

"Success, like happiness, cannot be achieved. It comes later, only as an unplanned result of dedication to a cause greater than yourself." These are the words of psychologist Viktor Frankl, who miraculously survived concentration camps during World War II. He came to the conclusion that a person only feels happy and inspired when he has a big task that requires fulfillment in the future. To feel happy, a person must have an answer to the question of why he lives. Happiness is a result, a by-product of devotion to a particular cause, to a person, to God. Happiness is not a goal, but a path to a goal.

Addressing God, the psalmist expressed a similar thought: "Happy are those who draw strength from you, who with all their hearts desire to walk the road leading to your home... Happy is he who relies on you" (Psalm 83:5, 12).

I also keep joy because I rely on a Strong God and I am sure that he will support us all, that "he acts devotedly with devotees." I am pleased with the words from Psalm 18:25, where it is written about God: "You are loyal to those who are loyal to you, and you do justice to those who are innocent."

The second reason for joy is well formulated by the poet George Byron. He wrote: "Happy among mortals are those to whom God has granted the grace to listen, read, prayerfully pronounce and reverently perceive the words of this Book! Happy are those who are able to open the doors of the Bible and resolutely follow its paths."

Indeed, reading the Holy Scriptures in front of all the participants in the process was a great honor and joy for me. Your Honor, I am very grateful that you listened attentively when we read out quotes from the Bible! I hope the joy of hearing the Word of God was passed on to everyone who listened and reflected on it. This joy is explained by the unique wisdom and depth of the truths from this book. By reading the Bible with humility, everyone can feel joy as a result of the powerful power of God, called the Holy Spirit in the Bible. "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, temperance. There is no law against them" (Galatians 5:22, 23).

There are few outstanding people in the world who would not admire and appreciate the Holy Scriptures. A. S. Pushkin wrote: "I think we will never give the people anything better than Scripture... Religion has created art and literature, everything that has been great since antiquity! Without it, there would be no philosophy, no poetry, no morality. The British are right to give the Bible to children… My children will read the Bible with me... the Bible is universal… Here is the only book in the world: it has everything."

F. M. Dostoevsky wrote in The Brothers Karamazov: "My God! What a book this Holy Scripture is, what a miracle and what a power given to man with it! It is like a statue of the world, and of man, and of human characters; and everything is named and indicated for ever and ever. And how many secrets are allowed and revealed! I love this book! The destruction of the people without the Word of God, for the soul longs for his Word and every beautiful perception."

Indeed, "blessed is he who ... finds joy in the law of the Lord, and this law is in his thoughts day and night!" (Psalms 1:1, 2, Modern Russian translation).

Another reason for joy is that all the materials of the case and the testimony of prosecution witnesses confirm the innocence of all the accused, prove clearly that my friends and I did not commit any crime and are Christian believers. Wiretapping of our telephone conversations, undercover filming and provocations by an undercover agent did not reveal any criminal or malicious intent, deeds or even words. Everyone present could make sure that we are not fanatics, that our faith does not depend on other people and organizations.

My faith is based on many years of reflection and research (since childhood). Simple observations of the harmony of a complex and diverse world, interest in natural sciences, history and art lead many people to a conscious faith in the Creator.

During the process, we quoted the Bible a lot, and I thought about those for whom it is not an authoritative source. Probably, personal experience prevents them from believing in a loving Creator. Such people can be understood, they have the right to do so. And only God sees their heart.

You may have heard that the great French physicist and mathematician Blaise Pascal also studied philosophy and theology. He argued that it is more profitable to believe in God than not to believe. According to the philosopher, it would be unwise not to bet on God: "If you win, you will win everything (you are rewarded with eternity in paradise); if you lose, you will not lose anything. Therefore, do not hesitate to bet on what He is."

Many people like to look at the starry sky. It is especially pleasant on the beach, lying on the warm sand. Then the sky seems endless, the stars are countless. It seems that you are one on one with the universe. In our universe, everything is in motion, and this movement is constant and predictable: planets, stars and galaxies move in space according to certain physical laws that enable scientists to predict certain cosmic phenomena with amazing accuracy. Even in ancient times, people saw a pattern in the movement of stars in the sky and were able to use it in the exploration of the sea.

Incredibly, the four main forces that control the smallest atoms also control the vast galaxies. Scientists have proved that "matter is organized at all levels — from the smallest to the largest." Why does the universe reveal such order and such harmony? Why is it governed by such excellent laws? These laws must have existed before the universe appeared, otherwise they would not have been able to control it. The logical question is: where did they come from? Isaac Newton gave the answer: "This excellent system of the sun, planets and comets could only have happened by the intention and sovereign domination of an intelligent and omnipotent Being."

Thales of Miletus, an ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, wrote: "God is older than all things, for he was not born. The cosmos is the most beautiful of all, because it is the creation of God."

Modern astronomer Vera Rubin, known for studying the speed of rotation of galaxies, believes that her discovery proves the existence of God. By studying the rotation curves of galaxies, she revealed discrepancies between the predicted circular motion of galaxies and the observed motion. This fact, which became known as the "problem of galactic rotation", became one of the main evidence in favor of the existence of an unknown force accelerating galaxies.

More than 2,700 years ago, the prophet Isaiah praised the Great Creator, Jehovah God, for the order with which everything was created in heaven. He wrote: "Lift up your eyes to the height of heaven and see who created them? Who brings out the army by their account? He calls them all by name: according to the multitude of His might and great power, nothing is taken away from Him" (Isaiah 40:26; Psalm 18:2).

Indeed, if one can learn about God and his love through the nature created by him, then only in the Holy Scriptures there are clear answers to difficult questions for people. We have already answered many of them with the help of the Bible. There was a lot of talk about the future of our planet, that "the earth was created for habitation ... it will not waver ... it will be forever", that it will be cleansed and honest people will live happily and forever on it. If you carefully read the book of Revelation (translated from Greek — Apocalypse), it becomes clear that Armageddon is not the destruction of the earth with nuclear weapons (which God will not allow), but God's war with evil. In Revelation 11:17, 18 it is written: "We thank you, Almighty God, who is and was, for taking power into your own hands and beginning to rule... and destroy those who destroy the earth."

The Bible helps us anticipate some events before Armageddon. For people in the world, they are likely to be a complete surprise. I will tell you about one of them. This is a prophecy from 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, which says that world leaders will proclaim "peace and security," but this statement will not be true. This lie will be especially disastrous, because it will give people a deceptive sense of security on the threshold of the greatest disaster in human history. As the Bible says, "they will suddenly be destroyed, just as a pregnant woman suddenly goes into labor."

How to survive Armageddon? We need to show in practice that we know God and obey the "good news about our Lord Jesus." To know God means to understand what he loves, what he hates, and what he demands of us. It also means loving him, being obedient to him, and worshipping only him: "Loving God means keeping his commandments, and keeping them is not difficult" (1 John 5:3). If we really know God, we can be sure that he knows and approves of us. "Whoever loves God, God knows him" (1 Corinthians 8:3). And this is a great honor and a guarantee of salvation in Armageddon.

Dear Court, I am glad that in my last word I was able to share my faith and hope. I wanted to convey the "good news" that everything is under the control of the Almighty, that at the appointed time God will bring order to the Earth and everything will be fine. Through the Bible, the Creator gives hope and joy even in difficult days. This hope and joy are available to all people on earth.

Of course, the criminal prosecution, which began on March 20, 2019, became a stress for all subsequent years while the investigation was underway. I couldn't take care of my mom, who was really waiting for me and needed me. On December 6, 2023, she died. I am very worried and miss her! It comforts me that my mother believed in God and addressed him by name. She supported my family and helped a lot. Every time she talked to us on the phone, she wondered why we were being judged, why honest people were being persecuted.

I ask you to make a legitimate and objective decision on the case.

Summary of the case

Region:

Magadan region

Locality:

Magadan

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, he conducted divine services together with others, which is interpreted as "organizing the activities of an extremist organization"

Criminal case number:

11807440001000013

Initiated:

May 30, 2018

Current stage of the case:

Proceedings in the court of first instance

Investigating:

2nd investigative department of the 3rd Department for the investigation of particularly important cases of the SU IC of the Russian Federation in the Irkutsk region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2), 282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)

The number of the case in court:

1-6/2024 (1-12/2023, 1-220/2022)

Court of First instance:

Magadan City Court of the Magadan region

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Tatyana Belaeva