The last word of the defendant Mikhail Solntsev in Magadan

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Mikhail Solntsev in Magadan

February 12, 2024

Magadan region

The believer told how and why he became a Jehovah's Witness: "A person needs faith in a happy future, hope for the best, because that's how we were created by our Creator."

Transcript of the court session in the Magadan City Court of the Magadan region dated 02/12/2024 in the case 1-6/2024 (1-12/2023, 1-220/2022) according to the accusation of Mikhail Yurievich Solntsev and others of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Solntsev Mikhail Yurievich:

Your Honor, dear participants in our process! At the beginning of my last word, I would like to thank everyone for their patience, as the process was not easy and dragged on for almost two years. I also want to thank the respected court for the correct and attentive management and conduct of the process, thank the prosecutors for their polite attitude towards us, the defendants, thank the lawyers and Alexander Pavlovich personally for their activity and professionalism in protecting their wards.

I'll start with what brought me here and how I became a Jehovah's Witness. I grew up, like all Soviet people, an average citizen of my country. He was a pioneer, then a Komsomol member. Since childhood, I have been taught that our highest goal and task is communism in a single country. I sincerely believed in it and really wanted to see what a wonderful life it would be! But as time went on, reports from fields and factories screamed about the over-fulfillment of the plan, but my eyes told me about the decline and desolation. Then perestroika and even acceleration began, I somehow cheered up, but I went to get food stamps and basic necessities and saw kilometer-long queues in stores. Then our family was even promised a separate apartment by 2000, which we were very happy about, since the four of us lived with my father and little daughter in a two-room Khrushchev, but somehow it was all hushed up and let down the brakes. We also took part in the privatization, and for the voucher we received, as it was said, we could later buy two Volga cars.

Unfortunately, none of the above happened, and it gave me the understanding that I have been deceived all my adult life. I saw that they no longer promise anything to anyone, there is no ideology, but only the power of despicable metal, that is, money, exists. My whole being was against it, because a person needs faith in a happy future, hope for the best, because that's how we were created by our Creator. I'm not criticizing my state in any way — it taught me for free, gave me a job, I could go on vacation every year, use free medicine and much more, I'm just stating the facts. But, in addition to physical food and physical benefits, a person needs spiritual food. This is how humans differ from other creatures on earth.

So how do you satisfy this spiritual hunger? This, figuratively speaking, can be food from the trash, in the form of low-grade films, books, TV shows, or high-quality food that can radically change our personality for the better, benefit us, our loved ones and others. But where could you get such high-quality spiritual food? As I said, faith in the communist future turned out to be a utopia, and there was no other way. But every person wants to live happily, and everyone wants his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to be happy.

In the late 90s, a family of Jehovah's Witnesses came to our city. They lived in the house next door, and I often met them and later got to know them. They seemed unusual to me, looked very dignified both externally and internally, treated each other very carefully, did not swear, did not smoke, and generally stood out among the people around me at that time. As I said, I got to know them, and they suggested that I study the Bible. What I learned then struck me to the core! I learned that there is a God, his name is Jehovah, this name briefly means "Who exists" or "He gives to become", that he is Omnipotent, that is, he can do whatever he wants. The Synodal Translation of the Bible, chapter 3 of the Book of Exodus, verses 13 to 15 says: "And Moses said to God, Behold, I will come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they will tell me: what is His name? What should I tell them? God told Moses: I am who I am. And he said: Thus say to the children of Israel: The Lord has sent me to you. And God also said to Moses: Thus say to the children of Israel: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and the remembrance of Me from generation to generation." The book of Genesis says: "Abraham was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abraham and told him: I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless" (Genesis 17:1). And the Book of Exodus says: "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD, and said, I sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted; he has cast his horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my fortress and my glory, He was my salvation. He is my God, and I will glorify Him; the God of my father, and I will exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war, Jehovah is his name" (Exodus 15:1-3).

Jehovah has a firstborn son, he is an angel, and his name is Michael, which means "who is like God?". This name glorifies Jehovah and says that anyone but him can do anything. The Book of Daniel says: "And Michael, the great prince, who stands for the sons of your people, will rise up at that time; and a difficult time will come, such as has not happened since there were people until this time; but at that time all those who are found written in the book will be saved from your people" (Daniel 12:1). This angel was a man on earth, under the name of Jesus, and was carrying out his Father's task. He had to die for the sins of all people and cover with his death the sin of the first perfect man Adam, who had the opportunity to live forever in paradise on earth, but did not obey God and died. The death of Jesus gives hope and opportunity to all meek people who follow God's commandments to live forever in paradise on earth.

Jehovah has other angelic sons, there are a great many of them, myriads, as the Bible says. They diligently serve their Father and glorify him in everything. Together, these angels make up the "heavenly host." The 1st Book of Kings says: "And Micaiah said, Hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven stood by him, on his right and on his left hand" (1 Kings 22:19).

There is also the Holy Spirit, which is the all—pervading power of God, with which he can do whatever he wants in an instant. The Gospel of Luke says: "The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Holy One who is being born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). With the help of the holy Spirit, God can resurrect the dead. The Bible says that there will be a resurrection of the dead: "I will redeem them from the power of hell, I will deliver them from death. Death! Where's your sting? Hell! Where is your victory? I will have no remorse for that" (Hosea 13:14). And here's what the Book of Revelation says: "Then the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead who were in them; and everyone was judged according to his deeds" (Revelation 20:13). When I found out about this, I cried with overwhelming feelings, because I had the hope to see and hug my parents, relatives and friends!

I also learned that there was an opponent of God who was an angel, but became arrogant and began to slander him. For this, God stripped him of his name and gave him nicknames: Satan (the adversary) and the Devil (the slanderer). The Gospel of John says: "Your father is the devil, and you want to fulfill the lusts of your father; he was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him; when he speaks a lie, he speaks his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Satan took some of the other angels with him, and they became demons, and the whole so-called gang was thrown to earth in 1914. The heavens were cleansed, Michael (Jesus) became King, but hard times came on earth. In the book of Revelation it is written: "And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, but they could not stand, and there was no place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole universe, was cast down to earth, and his angels were cast down with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven: Now is the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ, because the slanderer of our brethren has been overthrown, who slandered them before our God day and night; they defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and did not love their soul even to death. So have fun, heavens and those who dwell in them! Woe to those who live on earth and on the sea, because the devil has come down to you in a great rage, knowing that he does not have much time left!" (Revelation 12:7-12).

Two world wars claimed the lives of about 93 million people worldwide. There are incessant local wars going on all the time. This is just one of the signs of the "last days" that Jesus was talking about when his disciples asked him about it. He also said that there would be famine, epidemics, earthquakes. The Apostle Paul, in his 2nd Letter to Timothy, writes about the people who will live in the last days: "Know that in the last days hard times will come. For people will be self-loving, avaricious, proud, arrogant, slanderous, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, impious, unfriendly, irreconcilable, slanderers, intemperate, cruel, not loving goodness, traitors, arrogant, pompous, more voluptuous than God-loving, having the appearance of piety, but denying its power. Get away from such" (2 Timothy 3:1-5). We are witnessing all this now. Yes, life on earth is getting worse and harder.

But that's not why God created the Earth and that's not why He settled people on it. Very soon, Michael (Jesus) will neutralize Satan and his minions, who are interfering with people's lives. The Revelation of John the Theologian says: "And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, who had the key to the abyss and a large chain in his hand. He took the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and put a seal on him, so that he would not deceive the nations until the thousand years were over; after that he must be released for a short time" (Revelation 20:1-3). During this thousand years, there will be a resurrection of dead people, all people will return to the days of their youth, stop getting sick and dying, they will come to perfection and live in paradise on earth forever, and Satan will eventually be destroyed forever.

Your Honor, everything I've been trying to convey from the Bible right now is the truth. And since there are not many truths, but there is only one, I believe that this is the truth. The truth has always been expensive, and today it is so. That is why, I think, we, the defendants, are in this room.

Your Honor, I really hope that you will make the right decision and the truth will prevail!

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)

The Court of First Instance:

Magadan City Court of the Magadan region

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Tatyana Belaeva