The last word of the defendant Mikhail Moysh in Irkutsk

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Mikhail Moysh in Irkutsk

January 25, 2024

Irkutsk region

The defendant drew the court's attention to the fact that the prosecution did not provide any concrete evidence of his guilt. This is especially strange because it happens in a democratic and Christian country. "The conclusion that can be drawn, Your Honor, is that Christians are persecuting Christians!" said Moishe.

Transcript of the court session in the Oktyabrsky District Court of Irkutsk dated 01/25/2024 in the case 1-6/2024 (1-105/2023; 1-857/2022) according to the accusation of Moishe Mikhail Florovich and others. of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Moish Mikhail Florovich:

Dear Court, Your Honor, first of all, I want to thank everyone for organizing this trial. Everything was organized, everything was calm, everything went as it should have gone for believers.

I would like to express my special gratitude to my beloved wife, who helped and supported me a lot. Thank her very much. I love you very much. I also want to thank my father-in-law Mikhail for helping my family, he has become not only a grandfather for my children, but also a father. Thanks!

On October 4, 2021, at 6 a.m., employees of various departments broke into my apartment, breaking a window and scaring my children. I was arrested, separated from my family, and for two and a half years I was kept in inhuman conditions, most of the time in a separate cell. Moreover, I am accused of a very serious crime, extremism, my name, my family's name is disgraced, Your Honor; but most importantly, the name of the God Jehovah, whom I worship, is disgraced.

Since I have been in custody, I have repeatedly asked the question at court hearings: what for? This could be understood if I lived in an undemocratic country or in a country where Christianity is not accepted as a religion. But, as we can see, this has been happening for more than one year in our country, which calls itself Christian and where the principles and canons of Christianity are traced in everything. The conclusion that can be drawn, Your Honor: Christians persecute Christians! Moreover, I can regard my arrest and detention for such a long time as politically motivated repression for my faith.

If you go back to the history of the first Christians, and look into the Bible, in the book of Acts, the 5th chapter, then, starting from verse 34, you can see a very interesting case that happened about 2000 years ago with the apostles of Jesus Christ. When the Pharisees and religious leaders demanded that the apostles stop preaching, they refused. The story goes: "But then a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a law teacher respected by all the people, rose up and ordered the apostles to be taken out of the Sanhedrin for a short time (this is the supreme Jewish court of that time). And he said to them, "Israelis, think carefully before you do anything with these people. Shortly before that, Fevda appeared, posing as someone great, and about 400 people joined him. But he was killed, and all his followers scattered and disappeared. After him, during the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and took a lot of people with him. But he also died, and all his followers fled. That's why I'm telling you: Leave these people alone, don't touch them. After all, if this idea or business is from a person, then it will collapse on its own. Otherwise, it may turn out that you are godless." They obeyed him. Calling the apostles, they whipped them, ordering them not to speak on behalf of Jesus anymore, and let them go."

Why, Your Honor, did I pay attention to this ancient history of Christians? The servants of God have always been persecuted, starting from ancient Egypt, the first Christians. In the 20th century, they were persecuted in the USA, Germany, and then in the USSR. And now we are seeing it again, it is happening before our eyes in a modern democratic country.

Your Honor, could the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses have not only survived, but also continued its activities and flourished for so many years if it had been invented by people or was a sect, as some believe? The answer is obvious. According to Gamaliel's words above, if this was the intention of the people, this religion would have collapsed. Even if the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses had been made of the strongest steel that exists today, after such pressure and so many persecutions without the support of God, and if this religion had not been from God, it would not have stood.

Instructing his disciples, Jesus said these words: "A good man keeps good in his heart, and good comes from him, and an evil man keeps evil in his heart, and evil comes from him. After all, what a man has in his heart, he says." Your Honor, if there was something evil or extremist in my heart or in my thoughts, wouldn't it come out? For so many years that I have lived in Irkutsk, wouldn't it be expressed in my words, in my actions? In more than two years of detention, wouldn't this have shown up? But I do not have a single violation during my stay in the pre-trial detention center, and I am sure that if something was found in my words or deeds, it would certainly be recorded in the criminal case and underlined with the brightest pen that Moish Mikhail Florovich did it. But that's not the case, Your Honor. Why? Because this cannot happen, because I studied and study, lived and live according to the norms that are written in the word of God, the Bible.

The above-mentioned words of Jesus Christ contain a very deep truth, because if a person has evil in his heart and thoughts, then, anyway, sooner or later it comes out and makes itself felt. But a person who keeps the good in his heart and learns the good, good comes from him.

In the end, Your Honor, I want to draw attention to my family. As you already know, I have two young children, one of whom was only half a year old when I was arrested. Now he doesn't know his father, he doesn't know me, he calls his grandfather father. The second one will turn 13 in May. His adolescence is the most difficult age. Question: what kind of upbringing do they receive now without a father? Yes, mom educates, grandfather educates, grandmother, but this will not replace what a father should give. Would it really be right, Your Honor, and fair if I were given the time the prosecution is asking for and separated from my family and my children for several more years?

Your Honor, even if you look at it from all points of view, from the point of view of morality, from the point of view of all laws — the laws of God and the laws of the state — it would be wrong. Yes, if I had actually committed some kind of crime, then I would be willing to be punished. But I did not commit any crime, Your Honor.

Is it really, Your Honor, that the opinion of the Investigative Committee and the Prosecutor's Office is more important than the opinion of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Court, which did not prohibit the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, did not prohibit meeting together and discussing the Bible?

Your Honor, I want to go back once again and remember the beginning of our trial. It's been a long time, more than a year, what do we see? The accusations that were made against me, against us, have not actually been proven. And in fact, I, we have all been acquitted together, Your Honor. It remains only to pass an acquittal from a legal point of view. Therefore, Your Honor, I must be exonerated and rehabilitated so that I can be with my family, raise my children and help them.

Thanks, I'm done.

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

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 Slavinskyz