The last word of the defendant Andrei Tolmachev in Irkutsk

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Andrei Tolmachev in Irkutsk

January 24, 2024

Irkutsk region

In his address to the court, the believer said that the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses are far from extremism and, on the contrary, contribute to peace and help change lives for the better. "I have been a decent person all my life and have not committed a single crime," he told the court.

Transcript of the court session in the Oktyabrsky District Court of Irkutsk dated 01/24/2024 in the case 1-6/2024 (1-105/2023; 1-857/2022) according to the charges of Tolmachev Andrey Vladimirovich 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.

Tolmachev Andrey Vladimirovich:

Your Honor, all the thoughts that I wanted to voice, I expressed in my testimony. Therefore, I will be brief. I will say that I think it is unfair that the prosecution insists on real terms for me and the other defendants. In my opinion, the prosecution has not proved our guilt.

I want to say that I have been a decent person all my life and have not committed a single crime for which I could be convicted. I've never been tried. When I started studying the Bible, I realized that the norms and principles that are written in this book are in many ways similar to my idea of life, attitude to people, and so on. And when I hear words like "extremism" addressed to me, my brain does not understand and resists such statements. "Undermining the constitutional order." How if my religion teaches a perfect person something else? She teaches to be at peace with other people, to do good to others. And I live by these principles.

I want to give you one example. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to communicate with a man, a Jehovah's Witness. In the 90s, he was a criminal, he was in prison 3 or 4 times and led a very bad lifestyle - he was a drug addict, etc. And a few years ago, he began studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses and realized that God looked at all his deeds with condemnation. He also learned that the Bible teaches obedience to government authorities, and he did not do it. He decided to change his lifestyle — quit drugs, got married. He has two grown children. One day he said to me: "Andrey, then I understood what I was in prison for. I needed drugs, I went and stole, and they put me in jail. What if they put me in jail now? After all, I've changed my lifestyle. I have a family, children. Thanks to the Bible, I have changed. And that's what happens." And such cases are not isolated in Russia. There are many such people. In my opinion, the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses benefits the state, not that it engages in extremism. Because people are changing for the better.

The second point that I would like to draw attention to. I'm from the category of people who don't like to complain. But since this concerns me and my family personally, I will pay attention to it. And in no case do I want to arouse Your Honor's pity. A sense of compassion and understanding, yes, so that you take this moment into account as much as possible when passing sentence.

My defender Anna Viktorovna often drew attention to the fact that I was the only child of my already elderly parents at meetings. My father is 84 years old. He's disabled. My parents are having a very hard time without me. Besides, I have various diseases myself. My mom is going to have an eye operation in the near future… After that, long—term rehabilitation is needed - for several months she can not do anything bending over, you can not lift weights more than two kilograms, and so on. I don't have, for example, a sibling who could take care of my parents, stay with them. I have friends who can help to some extent, but this is completely different, because you need someone who could be there and support you. Please take this point into account.

And I ask the court to acquit me, rehabilitate me, return all the seized property and restore my honest name.

Summary of the case

Region:

Irkutsk region

Locality:

Irkutsk

What is suspected of:

Being "adherents of the religious association "The Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia", they organized collective religious services consisting of consistently performed songs and prayers to Jehovah God, the study of articles" (from the decree on bringing as an accused)

Criminal case number:

12102250040000051

Case initiated:

October 4, 2021

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

The number of the case in court:

1-6/2024 (1-105/2023; 1-857/2022)

Court of first instance:

Oktyabrsky District Court of Irkutsk

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Andrey Slavinsky.