The last word of the defendant Valentina Vladimirova in Smolensk

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Valentina Vladimirova in Smolensk

February 14, 2024

Smolensk region

Speaking before the court, the believer stated that she had never been a member of any banned organization, had nothing to do with extremism and her conscience was clear before God.

Transcript of the court session in the Industrial District Court of Smolensk dated 02/14/2024 in the case 1-16/2024 (1-211/2023) on charges of Vladimirova Valentina Ivanovna and Galkevich Tatyana Stepanovna of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Vladimirova Valentina Ivanovna:

I would like to express my gratitude to those present at this trial for their participation in a difficult, but at the same time very important case for us, the defendants.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to you, Your Honor, for the unbiased conduct of court proceedings. You tried to be attentive to all the participants. How easy it was to work with you! You followed the principle of adversarial parties from Article 15 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, and we did not feel like defendants. Thank you for that.

I would also like to mention the work of Tatyana Valeryevna, your secretary. You know your business. You accurately compiled the minutes of court sessions, which did not need to be commented on, and thus made our work easier. You could always suggest and explain something. Thank you for that.

I also want to thank our public prosecutor for his calm and restrained attitude during this whole process. You have always pronounced the name of God correctly — Jehovah, because he sees and hears all of us. Thank you for that. You have a hard job in the struggle to comply with the law of our country.

For almost 5 years now, we have been communicating with my defender Ekaterina Alexandrovna. I want to thank you for your kind and respectful attitude. Without him, it would have been very difficult for me to understand some of the legal intricacies of the process. I've learned a lot from you.

I thank all my friends for your love and attention — those who wrote letters to me in the pre-trial detention center, those who supported me throughout this long time. You are acting in accordance with the words of the Bible: "A friend loves at all times, and as a brother will appear in time of adversity" (Proverbs 17:17).

Your Honor, unfortunately, the prosecution, when considering this criminal case, did not take into account the totality of constitutional, legislative and international norms and provisions guaranteeing the rights of a person (citizen) to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. In addition, the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation does not cancel the constitutional right of an individual "to profess individually or jointly with others any religion or not to profess any, freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them" (Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation).

The conclusions of the prosecution regarding us, the defendants, are erroneous in that we, the defendants, participated in the activities of a legal entity banned by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. I want to explain why. The prosecution, believing that all Jehovah's Witnesses as a religion are generally prohibited, as well as all their publications, concludes that the usual conduct of liturgical ceremonies — meetings praising Jehovah's God in songs and prayers — as well as the study of biblical truths (texts) is nothing more than an extremist crime, that is there is a continuation of the activities of the liquidated organization of Jehovah's Witnesses. This position was also mistakenly expressed by the witness, the operative A. A. Medvedev, at the court hearing on July 19, 2023, where the question asked to him: "Did you know that according to the resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Council, we can perform divine services?", he honestly replied: "No, I did not know until today."

The following accusations are also groundless. Firstly, that we "used extremist literature for illegal missionary activities, including those prohibited by decisions of the courts of the Russian Federation, aimed at spreading information about the creed of a banned religious extremist organization among persons who are not participants (members, followers) of this organization in order to recruit these persons into its membership." Secondly, that we "received regular training in various branches of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, where, in addition to religious issues, we studied the psychology of influencing individuals in order to recruit them into the activities of the extremist organization Local Religious Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses in Smolensk."

I have never been a member of any banned organization, nor have I been a member of the MRO. I have never been to any MRO meetings and have no idea how they were conducted. I've never been invited to them. I have never seen or read the MRO charter. My name is not on the State Register statement.

Your Honor, despite all the trials that we have been going through for almost 5 years, during which my health has seriously deteriorated, I do not regret my decision to devote my life to Jehovah God and I have hope for the future. My conscience is clear before God and people.

I learned that there would be a righteous and just heavenly government, with Jesus Christ as king. I learned that God loves people very much and will return to them the heavenly conditions that were lost by our forefathers, and the opportunity to live forever. I learned that there will soon be no crime, wars, prisons, old age, diseases on earth. I believe that many people, after learning about this, will want to live in such a wonderful world. Because the people who have Jehovah as their God are happy.

Your Honor, I plead not guilty. I ask you to justify me, stop discrimination based on religion and restore my good name.

Summary of the case

Region:

Smolensk region

Locality:

Smolensk

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, "she participated in joint prayers to Jehovah and discussion of Bible interpretations... provided the premises of her apartment for holding meetings in conditions of secrecy" (from the decision on bringing as an accused)

Criminal case number:

11901660013000065

Initiated:

May 14, 2019

The current stage of the case:

Appeal

Is being investigated by:

SU of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Smolensk region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2)

Case number in court:

1-211/2023

The Court of First Instance:

Industrial District Court of Smolensk

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Lyudmila Kovaleva