Leonid Druzhinin's last word in the Zee

 RUSSIA 

Leonid Druzhinin's last word in the Zee

December 27, 2022

Amur region

From the courtroom

"Even the interrogations of prosecution witnesses show that there has never been any extremism in my actions," Druzhinin said in his last word, "and in principle there cannot be, since it contradicts our faith."

Transcript of the court session in the Zeisky District Court of the Amur Region dated 12/27/2022 in the case 1-96/2022 on charges of Leonid Ivanovich Druzhinin and Evgeny Vladimirovich Bitusov of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Druzhinin Leonid Ivanovich:

This is my first time at a trial in the status of a defendant. As you already know, I am a Jehovah's Witness. Jehovah's Witnesses fulfill the commandments of God written in the Bible. One of these commandments reads: "Thank you for everything. This is what God expects from the followers of Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Therefore, thanks to all the participants in the trial for treating me with respect as a defendant.

Your Honor, I know that a judge may have several dozen criminal cases pending at the same time. I can't even imagine how much time it takes to read all this and get into the details. Thank you for trying to carefully examine the materials of our case. Ksenia Viktorovna (secretary), thank you for keeping the minutes of the court session. This document will be very useful to me in the future, after the verdict is announced. Raisa Petrovna, Victoria Alexandrovna (lawyers), thank you for defending my rights! When you are in the courtroom, I feel calmer.

Olga Alexandrovna (prosecutor), you speak from the position of the prosecution. Procedurally, you and I are opponents. Opponents should be treated with respect. I have no negative feelings for you. Thank you for treating me and my religious beliefs with respect. And many thanks to my beloved wife and friends for their help and support during this difficult time for me!

Your Honor, as you may have noticed, I am a man of few words. Therefore, I will briefly tell you about myself and my motives. Why do I think this is important? This criminal case consists of 15 volumes, which is more than 4,000 sheets. There is quite a lot of material, but the case does not specify the motive for my actions. The investigator writes that I committed intentional actions of an organizational nature. But what was the motive?

According to article 282.2 of the Criminal Code, the motive should be "forcible change of the foundations of the constitutional system, violation of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, public justification of terrorism, incitement of discord, propaganda of exclusivity, violation of human rights, obstruction of the exercise of electoral rights, obstruction of the activities of state bodies, the use of Nazi paraphernalia, manufacture or storage for the purpose of mass dissemination of extremist materials". The list is quite impressive. But the problem is that during the preliminary investigation, the investigator did not even try to find out what my motives were. He simply copied the text from the Criminal Code into the indictment.

So what are my motives? Exclusively legitimate and peaceful.  As I said before, I try to keep God's commandments. There are quite a lot of them in the Bible. But there are two most important commandments. This is how our Lord Jesus Christ said about it: "Love your God Jehovah with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and most important commandment. And the second one is like it: "Love your neighbors as yourself." The whole law and the books of the prophets are based on these two commandments" (Matthew 22:37-40). Briefly and clearly. This is the foundation on which all other moral principles and all Christian teachings are built. Anyone can easily understand this. If I love God, then I will do the right thing so as not to upset him. If I love people, I won't violate their rights.

Jehovah's Witnesses are known for preaching their teachings. Why do I share my religious beliefs with other people? The investigator did not write anything about it. He unreasonably considers my actions illegal. And this also has a direct bearing on the motives of my actions.

Your Honor, in 1997, i.e. 25 years ago, I started studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses. What I learned was very interesting. Reading the Bible, I found answers to the questions that worried me, for example: How did life come about? What is the meaning of life? Why do bad things happen to good people? What happens after death? If all people want peace, then why are there so many wars? what will happen to our planet in the future? Also, reading the Bible, I saw that it has tips for all occasions, and they always work. It explains what to do to make the family friendly and happy, how to cope with stress and how to love your job. The Bible helps me make good decisions and see what the future holds for us. Putting the principles of the Bible into practice has changed my life for the better. It has become more meaningful, cleaner. The Bible gave me a clear standard of what is good and what is evil.

And the Bible also gave me wonderful hope for the future: through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, God will deliver people from disease, old age and death. And one day, while studying the Bible, I had the thought: "Everyone should know about this hope!" This information is too good to keep silent about it. That's why I started telling other people about what I had read in the Bible. What kind of extremism is involved in these actions? This is a manifestation of love for God and love for people. All people deserve to learn about God and get the hope of eternal life if they want it.

Your Honor, you will agree that it is illogical and inconsistent on my part to preach the Biblical commandments to the residents of the city of Zei and at the same time call for hatred, as the prosecution claims. As you know, parents are judged by their children, teachers are judged by their students. The child's bad behavior shames the parents. No normal student wants to embarrass their teacher. What will people think of my teacher Jesus Christ and my God Jehovah if I commit a crime, violate the law of the state in which I live?

As you can see, it's not just about the Criminal Code. It's about my personal moral responsibility to God. For me, as a believer, the relationship with Jehovah is very valuable. I don't want to upset him, I don't want to ruin his reputation with my behavior. For me, friendship with God is a powerful incentive to do the right thing and not violate the laws of the state, including the Criminal Code. I cannot violate the rights of other citizens, because it is a sin. From a Christian point of view, life is given to all people by God... If I intentionally commit illegal actions, as the prosecution believes, then I intentionally go against God. So, with my own hands, I deliberately destroy friendship with him, betray him. So I can no longer be a Jehovah's Witness.

So, my motive is to fulfill the commandments to love God and love people, and not to change the foundations of the constitutional system. By the way, I think it's unlikely that one person like me can change the constitutional order in Russia.

There is no harm from the activities of my co-religionists in the city of Zee. On the contrary, Jehovah's Witnesses benefit society. These are honest, decent people. These are law-abiding taxpayers. They are loving, caring parents, grandparents. Jehovah's Witnesses at one time appealed to the city administration several times, offered their strength in conducting clean-up days. We cleaned and maintained order on the land plot where our worship building was located: we made flower beds, a pedestrian path, and street lighting. But there used to be a regular dump there.

The phrase "organization of Jehovah's Witnesses" is often found in the case. What is it? This is not a legal term. This is a worldwide community of Christians, people who are united by the love of Jehovah God. This is what the Bible calls the word "church." The church is not in the sense of a building, but in the sense of a group of people.

Yes, this group is currently active in 240 countries and territories. Yes, this group is well organized. And this is not surprising. Any team has a certain structure, thanks to which it can achieve its goals. I'll give you an example from history. The Christians who lived in the first century AD on the territory of the Roman Empire were also well organized. What was their purpose? To preach that the Messiah has come, who will eliminate Satan the Devil, return perfection and eternal life to people and restore paradise on earth. There were very few Christians at that time, and the territory for preaching was simply huge. How did they cope with this task? They had a leader, Jesus Christ. After his death and resurrection from the dead, it was he who became the head of the Christian Church and remains so to this day. In a short time, less than 30 years, thanks to the leadership of Jesus and the good organization of preaching activities, the Christian faith spread throughout the Roman Empire. And this is despite the absence of the Internet and the brutal persecution of Christians by the state authorities and religious leaders of that time. Today, Jehovah's Witnesses are doing the same thing — preaching that God will eliminate all troubles and misfortunes. Only now the whole earth is the territory for preaching activities. It is not surprising that in order to achieve such a goal, Jehovah's Witnesses are well organized (in the sense of an intra-confessional structure, not a legal entity).

Your Honor, I am convinced that I am not doing anything wrong against God, the state and people. I'm not ashamed to look into people's eyes. I am on trial for the name of my God and for believing in him. It's an honor for me. I am determined to remain faithful to Jehovah to the end, although the prosecution expects me to stop participating in the worship of my God Jehovah. You could see for yourself, Your Honor, that even the interrogations of witnesses by the prosecution show that there was never any extremism in my actions and in the actions of the second defendant, and in principle there cannot be, since this contradicts our faith. There are no victims of my actions in the case.

Your Honor, I ask you to make the only correct and fair decision — to find me innocent, acquit and restore my good name, recognizing my right to rehabilitation!

Summary of the case

Region:

Amur region

Locality:

Zea

What is suspected of:

"by searching for places for religious events, providing these places with computer equipment intentionally organized [and] weekly religious events" (from the decision on bringing as an accused)

Criminal case number:

12007100001000038

Case initiated:

August 10, 2020

Current stage of the case:

the verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Amur region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-96/2022

The Court of First Instance:

Zeisky District Court of the Amur region

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Olga Kolesova