The last word of the defendant Natalia Voropaeva in Krasnoyarsk

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Natalia Voropaeva in Krasnoyarsk

March 23, 2023

Krasnoyarsk Territory

From the courtroom

In her appeal to the court, the believer refuted the extremist motives attributed to her by the investigation, which "contradict [her] faith." She said: "There is no search for my non-existent crime, but conscious discrimination and persecution of me on religious grounds."

Transcript of the court session in the Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Krasnoyarsk dated 03/23/2023 in the case 1-93/2023 on charges of Natalia Leonidovna Voropaeva of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Voropaeva Natalia Leonidovna:

I want to start my last word with words of gratitude. Your Honor, Ivan Alexandrovich, thank you for being patient with me because of my ignorance or misunderstandings. They kindly reassured me that I would be able to give all my testimony, and did not interrupt when I voiced them. And also thanks for the express method of court hearings, for not prolonging my pleasure of going to the courts. This is probably something new in the practice of courts, but not necessarily a bad thing. I liked it!

Prosecutor, Olga Nikolaevna, thank you for your unbiased attitude towards me as a person and your pleasant qualities. I was comfortable with you.

Secretary, Oksana Evgenievna, thank you for your kindness and for your cooperation in allowing my friends to attend these hearings. Assistant Secretary, Salangy Alekseevna, thank you for your diligence and hard work.

Of course, I want to say a special thank you to my lawyer, Larisa Alexandrovna, for her sincere concern for me, help and patience so that I would not feel confused due to ignorance of certain points and nuances of the judicial procedure.

I also want to express special thanks to my friends, who, despite the fact that the trials took place almost every day, came and supported me with their smiles and hugs. And also distant, but also very close to me, who always kept their finger on the pulse, monitored my emotional state, tried to cheer me up and strengthen my faith, assured me of their love and the love of our Father Jehovah and even sang songs for me! You are the most precious treasure given to me by my Father! You are like sunlight. To exclude friendship from life is like depriving the world of sunlight. Thank you for not getting tired of shining and giving your warmth!

Your Honor, with regard to the prosecution, I want to say the following: I don't understand the accusation at all, since the investigation itself is confusing. I am accused that "in the period from 07/17/2017 to 01/28/2018, in an unidentified place by the investigation, despite the existing ban, I decided to continue to participate in the activities of a local religious organization in the territory of the Zheleznodorozhny district of Krasnoyarsk by carrying out activities similar to the one she carried out in the organization, having the rank of pioneer, i.e. baptized Witness Jehovah's Witnesses."

The prosecution is based on the decision of the Supreme Court of April 20, 2017, on the basis of which specific legal entities were liquidated. I was not a member of any religious association (legal entity) liquidated by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The case file confirms this.

The preliminary investigation authorities believe that meetings and groups are included in the MRO, but this is not the case. The Articles of Association of the MRO are the founders and participants, individuals whose membership is limited. Moreover, children are not included in this Charter, but they were present at our divine services.

A classified witness at the court hearing also confirmed that these were divine services, and children were present at them. It turns out that I participated in the divine services, and I am definitely not a member of the MRO Krasnoyarsk. But I do not deny that I am a Jehovah's Witness.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. The issue of the rights of individuals to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses was not considered. The Court only assessed the actions of specific legal entities. Consequently, any person living in the Russian Federation has the right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses after April 20, 2017. This means that being a Jehovah's Witness in Russia is not a crime.

In this criminal case, the preliminary investigation body did not distinguish between the lawful behavior of a citizen in exercising his right to freedom of conscience and religion, guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and a socially dangerous act provided for in part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. I believe that the authorities of the preliminary investigation incorrectly and arbitrarily interpret the decision of the Supreme Court, and it is their misinterpretation that is the reason that today I am under criminal prosecution. And apparently, I'm being persecuted for my faith.

[…]

Your Honor, what is my criminal intent? An interesting fact is given in the indictment on page 24: "Voropaeva N. L. is a follower of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, therefore she has the right to study the Bible and other literature of this religious teaching, including together with other followers. Freedom of religion implies freedom of conscience and the right to profess and practice any religion, or to renounce it. However, if a person appointed or elected by someone acts in the role of this person, he becomes an element of some kind of structure."

Your Honor, but if I become a part of some structure, then I can no longer worship together with others? And how should I worship and exercise my right? It seems to me that the indictment in this part is absurd. The international organization Jehovah's Witnesses is not banned, and I worship the way brothers and sisters do all over the world. The way Christians did in the first century. They also gathered together, sang psalms, read the Scriptures and prayed in turn. This has always implied a certain degree of organization. In the Bible, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 33, it says this: "Because God is not a God of disorder, but of peace." And verse 40: "Just let everything be decent and organized."

Going to a temple or church of any religious direction, you can make sure that the services are held with strict observance of certain rules for their conduct: someone will perform, for example, psalms, someone will say a prayer, someone will preach, someone baptize, and someone will just listen. It is impossible to imagine that these people, meeting in one place, would arbitrarily choose the form of participation in worship: if you want to sing, if you want to cross, if you want to preach. Internal creeds will always establish the order of such actions, depending on various factors.

In addition, all these believers, by professing faith together, automatically become an element of a certain structure: they define their affiliation to a specific religious organization, while, I repeat, not in its normative understanding given by the Federal Law "On Freedom of Conscience and on Religious Associations", but in a religious sense. Religious denominations represent the totality of all believers and their groups on a global scale, and therefore their canonical structure has a supranational character.

We can draw an intermediate conclusion: it is impossible to practice faith together without signs of organization and structuring.

I also want to clarify the very concept of the word "organization". The expression "religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses" does not mean any legal entity, but a religious denomination as a whole. An association with such a name has never existed and has not been recognized as extremist. When we say "organization", for us it is synonymous with the words "World Religious Brotherhood or denomination in general", and for law enforcement agencies "organization" is equal to a legal entity. Therefore, when we say that we belong to the "religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses", we mean a denomination, not a legal body, and no one has banned the international denomination. [...] Therefore, the prosecution's position that Jehovah's Witnesses are an extremist organization is erroneous.

[…]

In fact, in the psychological and linguistic expertise, an attempt has been made to describe the features of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion itself with its worldwide canonical structure, including spiritual terminology (proclaimers, pioneers, and so on), which is in no way related to legal entities. The terms "elder" and "pioneer" are not even a structure, they are one of the religious dogmas. This is an immutable teaching that is written in the Bible.  There have always been people who were ready to help and take care. For example, about the elders, Hebrews 13:17 says: "Listen to those who take over the leadership among you, and obey them, because they constantly take care of you and will have to give an account for it."

[…]

In fact, the state prosecutor unreasonably points out that it is possible to jointly practice the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia only by breaking away from the international structure. In his opinion, it is impossible to study the spiritual publications of Jehovah's Witnesses during worship, even if they are not recognized as extremist, it is unacceptable to use the vocabulary generally accepted in this religion and discuss its creeds, it is impossible to conduct divine services in the same order as believers do in all countries.

After all, this is what all the evidence is based on: Based on the vocabulary used and other features, it can be concluded that the group of believers in Krasnoyarsk, whose records of worship were obtained during the ORM, is not just an independent community of people, but an association that is part of the international religious structure of Jehovah's Witnesses.

The prosecution unreasonably does not distinguish the organization of the activities of a liquidated local religious organization from the joint confession of faith by a group of believers with their entry into the structure of an international religious organization, which was not recognized as extremist and was not prohibited.

What were my motives when I provided a place for worship? I was exercising my right under Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. By my actions, I did not wish or cause any harm to anyone. I did not resume the activities of the liquidated local religious organization Krasnoyarsk, as I was not a participant or founder of it.

In the indictment on page 16, the preliminary investigation authorities made the following conclusion: my activities are secular in nature, not related to conducting rituals and practicing religion. I am very interested in what this conclusion is based on? All video recordings of divine services and even telephone conversations with Sukhov V. V. show the opposite… During the hearing of the case materials, I hope, Your Honor, you got a complete picture of the services in which I participated. I want to cite some fragments from these divine services and my comments as evidence. They clearly show what I was doing at these services and what my goals and motives were.

[…]

The expert in his conclusion claims that since I use the phrases "we" and "in one of our publications" in my comments, then I am the person who manages the group. I'll give you an example. [...] If a locksmith says in a conversation in a working group: "Our newspapers and television reported this and that," did he become a leader, referring to these "publicists"? In the following sentences, the expert no longer even tries to prove, but unfairly declares that I "influence" and "control". Although anyone who is at least a little familiar with the biblical teachings knows that a woman cannot be a religious leader and "manage" other believers.

For this reason, I am not in the habit of saying the word "we" in the comments at all, because a woman does not teach at worship services, even in her comments. If you have noticed, Your Honor, I apply thoughts only to myself everywhere in my comments. I reviewed all my comments and found only two where the word "we" really exists. In both cases, these are quotations from the Bible.

My first comment is on the optical disc 5/50... I quote the question in the text: "How is this emphasized in 2 Peter 3:13? Why is this verse given here? Sister Natalia, please." I reply, "It says here: According to His promise, we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness will dwell..." And then I explain this biblical verse, which means a new heaven and a new earth. It turns out that this is not my phrase. The expert tore the word "we" out of the Bible verse itself, which suggests that I falsified the fact that I used the word "we" in order to prove my theory that I "influence" and "control".

Another comment ... Here the brother reads out the text: "Envy is not easy to penetrate into a heart full of love and kindness, the Word of God says: "Love is patient, kind, it does not envy." So that envy does not take root in our hearts, we need to try from the point of view of God to treat brothers and sisters as if we are one body, a Christian congregation. This will help us rejoice for others, because the Bible says, "If one member is glorified, then all members rejoice with him."

My comment: "Well, there's also such a thought here, we're all one body, right? My hand doesn't envy the other hand, for example, can the right hand do a lot? And the left one is not so much, but less, but she is not jealous."

Your Honor, please tell me, what kind of "influence" and "management" can be traced in my comment? In my opinion, there is a normal discussion of the text here, and I also refer to the quote from the Bible, which is given above, that we are Christians, members of the same body. This is recorded in Romans 12:5: "In the same way, although we are many, we make up one body, which is in unity with Christ, and, as its parts, we depend on each other." It follows from all this that the accusation brought against me is absolutely unjustified and puts me in the wrong light.

Moreover, I do not possess any supernatural abilities related to influencing the psyche of people or the ability to manage groups. The believers who attended the services were not robots devoid of critical evaluation. It follows from the psychological examination on which the prosecutor is based that the psychologist did not conduct any psychological research on me or those who attended the services (did not interview, did not conduct tests, did not observe, etc.), but focused solely on the printed text of the transcript. The prosecution, using these formulations, abuses its rights, trying initially to present me in a negative light not as a believer with sincere religious beliefs, but as a person aimed at some kind of special management of others.

Also on page 20 of the indictment, the expert talks about manipulative methods of preaching aimed at involving a person in an organization. As he believes, this method does not exclude psychological violence. But allow me, Your Honor, how can you force a person to do something against his will? This will be violence. At the market, the seller offers to buy sausage. Does he use psychological pressure too? No. He just says that it is of high quality, made from natural ingredients, without GMOs. And the buyer decides whether to buy or not. And if you like the sausage, then you will continue to take it.

It turns out that every person has reason and freedom of choice: to accept knowledge or reject it. This is clearly seen in the example of Kuzmin's witness, the Dolgovs. He quietly stopped attending the services of Jehovah's Witnesses, and no one influenced him in this regard. Jehovah's Witnesses, just like God, respect a person's personal choice, and they have a noble goal — to introduce people to the Word of God, because this is one of the ways to get to know God better and make friends with him. And then he, God, will use his spirit to influence a person and help put his life in order and develop the qualities he pleases.

For example, on disc number 5/50 there is a video from the worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses from 01/28/2018, where the speech "Does the truth affect your life?" was made. In this speech there are such words: "Every person is valuable to God, every person individually, every person." And when a person begins to understand this, it becomes a powerful incentive, a powerful motive to get rid of habits that God does not like, such as alcohol addiction, smoking, and drug use. Plus God's help through his holy spirit — it helps a person to get rid of it."

Note, Your Honor, even Jehovah's Witnesses cannot influence a person, but only the spirit of God, it is he who changes a person. The witnesses are only guides, they introduce a person to God. And then a person develops a personal relationship with the Creator himself, and God helps such a person to get rid of everything that he does not like. Of course, a person must want it himself. And then there is just a case about a woman named Tatiana. Thanks to such friendship with God and the knowledge she acquired through the Word of God with the help of Jehovah's Witnesses, she was able to break with drug addiction. Here are her words: "Where I am now, with whom I can communicate, what promises I have from Jehovah God, this is the truth that brings freedom!" Thanks to the truth, people who are enslaved by habits objectionable to God, for example, outbursts of anger, insulting speech were able to get rid of it. And also some were able to get rid of a sense of inferiority, a sense of worthlessness.

Therefore, the accusation that Jehovah's Witnesses use psychological violence is unfounded. The fact that extremist motives are attributed to me completely contradicts the motives and goals of my faith, which is aimed only at good. She helps me to live by the high standards of God and to tell other people about these norms in a kind and respectful way. And this is clearly seen from the services I attended and my comments. There is no hint of extremism in them. This is the process of expressing my faith and my spiritual training. For example, at the divine service of 28.01.2018, which was mentioned above, the following issues were discussed: how to have good relationships with others; how not to let immoral desires get the better of us; how love and kindness will help us not to lose our reward.

Your Honor, please note that there is no hint of extremism in these topics, these topics are directly related to issues of faith. One of my comments: "It also says here that you need to develop good qualities in yourself. The soil of the heart — it must be kind. Accordingly, the qualities will be the same then." From this comment, it can be seen that faith includes a process of personal learning, and I received training at worship services where such issues are addressed. It is impossible for me to grow spiritually without it. Personal growth implies a mature personality in actions, deeds and words. What danger does this comment pose? He is just an expression of my faith. In my opinion, everyone should strive for this, show kindness in their words and deeds.

Divine service of 04/15/2018 — in prayer, the brother speaks about the purpose of this divine service: "To develop friendly relations with God. The truths that we will hear could be applied in our lives, as the ministers did in ancient times. And also to glorify God together and bring him honor and glory." The report is called "Strengthen your relationship with God." The following explains how to do this — with the help of conscience and biblical principles. A verse from Matthew 22:37 was quoted: "Jesus answered, 'Love Jehovah God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' And he explained that this is the first and most important commandment." Further, in verse 39, Jesus said, "And the second, like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" There was also a verse from Matthew 7:12, which is also called the "golden rule" in dealing with people. I quote: "In everything, treat people the way you want them to treat you. This is the essence of the Law." And this is the highest law for me, Your Honor. These principles, which I follow in my daily life, do not differ in any way from the laws of the state. Moreover, its foundations and constitutional system do not undermine it. I consider myself a law-abiding citizen who respects the laws of the state and pays taxes regularly.

Next comes the study of the article. Its title is "To know Jehovah as well as Noah, Daniel and Job." My comment: "As Ruslan already said, Job made an agreement with his eyes not to look at a girl with lust, he had the opportunity to take another wife, but he did not do this because he knew God's attitude to marriage and tried to follow it." And from this comment it is clear that there is no extremism in it, but the example of the biblical minister Job and how he takes into account God's point of view on marriage is traced. And by my comment, I show that I share his views, as well as God's point of view on fidelity to a spouse. If all people in the world had similar thoughts and views, in my opinion, then there would be no divorces. It is no secret that strong families are the key to the stability of the state, and Jehovah's Witnesses have strong ones, because it is very important for them to please God first of all.

The indictment on page 16 says that my activities are of a secular nature, unrelated to conducting rituals and practicing religion. The divine service of 04/29/2018 refutes this. The speech is "Are you walking on the road leading to eternal life?" It shows well that the Bible is such a reliable guide for us and it is important to use it in every life situation. And it is important that my beliefs and worship are based on this book. Next comes the discussion of the article, which is called "Continue to grow spiritually."

[…]

Your Honor, my comments expressed my personal desire to improve my personality in order to be pleasant to both God and people. In my opinion, it is obvious that these are not just secular issues. They show the depth of my faith and desire to please God.

My life as a whole, as well as the actions that I am accused of (attending such services), are exclusively peaceful in nature, and they are not related to extremism. In life, I am a calm, peaceful person. I try not to conflict with people, I have no enemies, and I maintain friendly, peaceful relations not only with my co-religionists, but also with people around me. This is evident from my characteristics from work and from the neighbors. I have clients who have been served by me for many years, and no one else, knowing my religion, has run away from me, I have not tried to impose it on anyone. And with regard to prejudice against other people, I want to say the following: I have a friend who identifies herself as an Orthodox Christian, but she never felt from me that I was towering over her or in any way humiliating her religious beliefs.

Thus, there is not even indirect evidence of my illegal intent, my goals and motives. And as for my religious beliefs, surely you have already realized, Your Honor, that I am a Christian, and my religious views are based on the Bible. And they are expressed in two basic commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. How did the prosecution come to the conclusion that my actions, motives, comments, and Bible reading undermine the security of the state?

One more point about the Bible. On page 20 of the indictment, the expert discusses the specifics of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, how Jehovah's Witnesses relate to Jesus Christ and the Bible itself. Tell me, what does this have to do with this trial? Am I being judged here or the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses? Both the prosecutor and you, Your Honor, are aware that no court has banned the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses itself. Am I being judged for not believing correctly?

It is curious how the expert writes that in 2018, the Bible translation published by Jehovah's Witnesses was included in the list of extremist materials by the court. Thank you for drawing the expert's attention to this, because according to Russian law, any editions and translations of the Bible are prohibited from being included in this list. I think it is obvious to all participants in the process that this is not a search for my non-existent crime, but conscious discrimination and persecution of me on religious grounds.

As for my attitude to the Bible and its teachings, my views were formed long before the "New World Translation" published by Jehovah's Witnesses in Russian appeared. I can prove my beliefs using any translation of the Bible, including the Synodal one, which is approved by the Orthodox Church.

The indictment says: "Under the guise of a personal religion (or other than a personal religion) Jehovah's Witnesses actually carried out active actions to participate in the activities of the organization." It turns out that my criminal intent is that I want to worship with my brothers and sisters. But practicing one's religion together with other members or separately is not prohibited by law.

In the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated October 28, 2021, paragraph 9 states: "When considering a criminal case on a crime under Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, it should be established which specific actions were committed by the guilty person, what are his motives. If actions and motives consist solely in the exercise of one's right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, including through individual or joint confession of religion, worship or other religious rites or ceremonies, by themselves, if they do not contain signs of extremism, do not constitute a crime provided for in part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation".

The case file says: "We have a state governed by the rule of law, which ensures the elimination of violations of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of an indefinite circle of people, a real threat of harm to the personality and health of citizens." But my rights as a believer have been violated.

Moreover, the fact that I was subjected to unjustified harassment by the authorities, my health deteriorated dramatically. Due to severe stress, my mental illness worsened — an anxiety disorder that doctors fixed in me in 2018 after the first search. Also, when a criminal case was opened against me in September 2022, I was deprived of the opportunity to go on vacation at sea when I had already bought a ticket. In addition, during the investigation, I lost consciousness and broke my leg, and had to undergo surgery. I was and am in an extreme situation. The recovery period of the foot is very long, and I have to remain disabled. I don't have a husband and parents to support me. And who will compensate me for all the damage caused by the persecution of me as a believer?

Based on this ruling and in view of all the above, I ask you, Your Honor, to be extremely fair and attentive to this case. It follows from the accusation that I face imprisonment only for the fact that I simply used my constitutional right to profess religion as a Christian Jehovah's Witness. I really hope that during the trial, the striking difference between peaceful Christian service to God, recorded during the OPM, and extremism, which simply does not exist and cannot exist in this case because of my religion, aimed at respect and humanity, became obvious to the court.

Summing up all that has been said, I want to state that I do not plead guilty and I believe that the charge against me is illegal. Taking into account the above, I ask for an acquittal.

Summary of the case

Region:

Krasnoyarsk Territory

Locality:

Krasnoyarsk

What is suspected:

"She directly participated in meetings ..., in reading and discussing texts from the Bible... in the performance of religious chants and prayers ..." (from the decision on bringing as an accused)

Criminal case number:

12202040002000060

Case initiated:

September 5, 2022

Current stage of the case:

the verdict has entered into force

Investigates:

SO for the Railway district of Krasnoyarsk, the GSU of the IC of Russia for the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Republic of Khakassia

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2)

Case number in court:

1-93/2023

Court of first instance:

Zheleznodorozhny District Court of Krasnoyarsk

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Ivan Ivanov