The last word of the defendant Dmitry Malevany in Spassk-Dalny

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Dmitry Malevany in Spassk-Dalny

January 27, 2023

Primorsky Krai

From the courtroom

In his appeal to the court, Malevany stressed that he was being tried only for his faith. He said: "Summing up the indictment, the prosecutor wrote: "Victims, there are no victims." What kind of victims or victims can there be from a person who always tries to keep the commandments of God?"

Transcript of the court session in the Spassky District Court of Primorsky Krai dated 01/27/2023 in the case 1-4/2023 (1-4/2022; 1-7/2021; 1-70/2020; 1-570/2019) on charges of Dmitry Yurievich Malevany and others of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Malevany Dmitry Yurievich:

In my last word, I want to thank all the participants in the process: lawyers — for their professional and personal qualities (with you, I felt that there was competition between the parties); the secretary — for patience and accuracy in his case; and, of course, you, Your Honor, for all the seriousness and restraint that you have shown in this case. I am especially grateful for the permits to leave the city. During several such trips, I visited the Museum of Primorsky Krai, the Art Gallery twice, joined the opera, attended a production at the Mariinsky Theater, watched and listened to a magnificent performance by professional artists. What is only the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra worth! Thanks to you, Your Honor, I was able to feel like a full-fledged member of society without a shadow of prejudice from the authorities, without being previously punished.

Although these four years were not easy for me and my family, I was able to learn a lot and learn valuable life lessons. One of them is like this — it doesn't matter where you are, but it matters with whom. And the second is that a person justified by God has nothing to be ashamed of.

When I read the texts of Holy Scripture for the first time, I saw that "everyone who wants to live with devotion to God will be persecuted" or persecuted. These words, like a prophecy, began to be fulfilled in my life when I began to apply what I read. For example, the prophet Isaiah has these words: "Do not touch unclean things." In order not to upset God, I gave up everything that could spoil relations with him: holidays with pagan roots, profanity, revenge, lies. I tell the truth even when it might be inconvenient for me.

This position caused a wave of protests from my classmates. Misunderstanding on their part sometimes resulted in physical retribution. To be honest, sometimes I wanted to fight back. Suddenly they will start to respect… But the conscience, trained according to the Bible, suggested the opposite: "Do not avenge yourself, dear ones, but give place to the wrath of God." This rule has always protected me from cruelty and anger. However, they understood everything anyway. Some said: "You're a believer, you can't be called names." If only they knew they couldn't either.…

After school, I went to university. The attitude towards me has changed radically. My classmates knew about my faith, but no one thought I was strange. Sometimes I was able to talk to someone about God, about faith, about biblical hope.

When I got a job at the Spassky Industrial and Economic College, later renamed the college, I discovered that some students knew about my faith. There have been times when children have tried to bring me to religious topics right at lectures! Of course, I like to talk about my faith, but not in class. I usually explained it this way: "Talking to you about my faith in a lecture is stealing from my employer, because these hours were paid by him for completely different purposes." I liked this position. There is a time for everything. God allows the existence of power, which means I have to be honest with my employer and my children. Although not everyone liked studying, no one objected to such arguments. In the era of permissiveness, I wanted to instill in them the idea that power should be respected.

Therefore, I do not understand how a person who encourages others to work honestly and respect authority can pose a threat to statehood? I did not have a program to overthrow the constitutional order — I did not even have thoughts of interfering in politics and changing something in my own way. May God choose a worthy ruler himself, and until that is done, I will obey those in power.

Some people think that faith is only for weaklings. There is even an expression: "I fell into the faith." But in fact, faith is power! It encourages a person to control himself, control his emotions, not give in to the rush of feelings, do what is right and honest, even when it is unprofitable.

For example, the first pages of the Bible tell about a woman named Rahab. The Bible tells us that she had, as it is now customary to say, an ancient profession, it is clear what kind. Despite this lifestyle, she showed outstanding faith when she learned that an army of Israelis had appeared at the borders of her city, and she had two of their scouts at home. She hid these men on her roof and made them swear that if she did not betray them, they would spare her and her entire family when they took the city.

What convinced her that resistance was useless? The story is 40 years old. It turns out that 40 years ago, God Jehovah divided the waters of the Red Sea, so that all the Israelites crossed the sea on a dry bottom, and the army of the Egyptians, who were chasing them, drowned, but not because no one could swim there, but because they raised their hand against the people of God. This old story impressed Rahab so much that she concluded that the God Jehovah is the real God! It is useless to resist him.

When the Israelites took Jericho, the city where Rahab lived, all the walls of the city collapsed with a crash, and the house of Rahab remained standing as if nothing had happened. It was Jehovah, the God of Israel, who spared Rahab! It is noteworthy in this story that Rahab was not an Israelite, she was not part of God's people, but thanks to faith, risking her life, she remained alive.

The story of Rahab shows that "God is not impartial, but everyone who fears God and acts righteously is pleasing to him" (Acts 10:35). This teaches me not to jump to conclusions about who will be saved and who will not. On the other hand, it would be a crime to withhold knowledge about God from others, because this is how they can develop their faith. In this regard, I do not understand the accusation made against me: how can I hate those who do not serve Jehovah yet, because only Jehovah knows who will be saved and who will not.

Another point of faith concerns attending divine services. At the dawn of mankind, as the Bible tells us, there were no meetings of the assembly. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were among the first righteous men who worshipped God almost alone. However, even then there was a certain structure of worship: people knew who to worship, how to do it, which sacrifices would be acceptable and which would not, and from what motives these sacrifices should be made. After a few hundred years, God had the nation of Israel. From that moment on, worship became centralized, and this order persists to this day. If before Christ, religious life was centered around the temple in Jerusalem, then after the Romans, at the instigation of Jewish religious teachers, executed Jesus Christ, God founded a new form of worship — the one without a temple. What is this form of worship without a temple? If you read the book of Acts, you will see that believers gathered in different places to read the Holy Scriptures, sing songs and pray. It is unclear why I was prosecuted for attending such services. Summing up the indictment, the prosecutor wrote: "Victims, there are no victims." You bet! What kind of victims or victims can a person have who tries to fear God in everything and keep his commandments?

It can be said that I am being judged for my faith and for the hope of living in paradise on earth under the rule of God. Does it make me angry? Not at all! I do not consider operatives, the investigator and the prosecutor to be my enemies. My enemies are those who live in the spiritual realm, Satan and demons are those who encourage people to live without God, to do whatever they want. That's exactly what their cases are worth exposing. They are the main culprits of all the injustice, cruelty and aggression that has swept the earth. And people can act out of ignorance. Jehovah is their judge, but my hand will not be on them.

I ask you to acquit me in the absence of the composition and motive of the crime. The text of the last word should be attached to the case file.

Summary of the case

Region:

Primorsky Krai

Locality:

Spassk-Dalny

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, he illegally organized the activities of a religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses on the territory of Spassk-Dalny (with reference to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the liquidation of all 396 registered organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses)

Criminal case number:

11802050020000065

Case initiated:

November 12, 2018

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

From the SU IC of Russia in the Primorsky Territory

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.2 (1.1)

The number of the case in court:

1-4/2023 (1-4/2022; 1-7/2021; 1-70/2020; 1-570/2019)

The Court of First Instance:

Spassky District Court of Primorsky Krai

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Pavel Bobrovich