The last word of the defendant Maxim Zinchenko in Sevastopol

 CRIMEA 

 

The last word of the defendant Maxim Zinchenko in Sevastopol

on April 16, 2024

Crimea

Speaking about the persecution of Christians in the past, the believer noted: "Unfortunately... history does not teach anything, but repeats itself. Today, a story is being written about how Jehovah's Witnesses are labeled extremists for the peaceful profession of an unbridled faith."

Transcript of the court session in the Nakhimov District Court of Sevastopol dated 04/16/24 in the case 1-345/2023 on the accusation of Maxim Viktorovich Zinchenko of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Zinchenko Maxim Viktorovich:

Dear Court, I will begin by thanking you, dear Valery Vasilyevich, for treating me with respect, accepting my petitions, and giving the audience the opportunity to attend the trial. Thank you for trying to delve into my case, which can be classified as extraordinary, because for many people this topic is specific.

I also want to express my gratitude to my lawyer Tatyana Ivanovna. Thank you for your open-mindedness and sincere desire to help me. You respected me and my beliefs. You are not only a good defender, but also a wonderful person.

I want to thank the representatives of the prosecutor's office. Although there was a new prosecutor at almost every hearing, there was generally respect for me and for those who came to support me. In one of the court sessions, the prosecutor even advocated that the listeners be admitted.

I also want to thank those who came to support me. Thanks to all my friends who, despite the fact that they were not allowed into the courtroom, came to support us near the building. And to all the rest of my co-religionists all over the world, thank you so much for your prayers too! Thank you very much to my parents and my wife's parents, siblings and grandparents, who have been supporting me and my wife all this time.

I would like to thank my dear wife Karina separately, as a huge burden has fallen on her shoulders. I definitely couldn't have done it without her help. I was under house arrest for almost 250 days, and she had to solve both domestic and sometimes legal issues herself to help me. Her work is invaluable to me.

And most of all, I am grateful to my God Jehovah, whom I worship. The main support for me and my family is him. I thank him for the strength he gave us, for peace in our hearts, for perseverance, patience and a positive attitude. This is entirely his merit. Without him, we most likely would not have survived this period of our lives.

Accusing me of extremism is not only unfounded, fictitious, not based on facts, but also blasphemous. It offends my religious feelings, as well as contradicts common sense and violates my right to an honest name. I would like my rights as a believer to be protected by law. The Bible says: "Keep a clear conscience, so that those who accuse you — whatever they accuse you of — will be put to shame, because you behave with dignity as followers of Christ. It is better to suffer for good deeds, if God allows it, than for evil ones" (1 Peter 3:16, 17). Dear court, there are no victims in my case. Indeed, I have a clear conscience before God and before people.

If you look into history not so far back, in the twentieth century, then there was article 58, according to which Jehovah's Witnesses were also judged. And in 1951, the Soviet government ordered the eviction of all Jehovah's Witnesses to Siberia, and everyone was offered a choice: sign a statement of renunciation of the faith and stay at home or go into exile. In 1996, the Russian government recognized Jehovah's Witnesses as victims of political repression and rehabilitated them. At the meeting of the Human Rights Council, which was held by the President of the Russian Federation in December 2019 and 2020, attention was drawn to the importance of preserving the memory of the victims of repression. For what? Mainly so that history does not repeat itself. But, unfortunately, in the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, history does not teach anything, but repeats itself. Today, a story is being written about how Jehovah's Witnesses are labeled extremists for the peaceful profession of an unbridled faith. Earlier in this story, the label of enemies of the people was hung, and the label of sectarians has been hung not even since the time of tsarist Russia, but at least since the time of Christians of the first century to this day.

I ask you to pay attention to my motives. If suddenly someone thinks that I have done something illegal, then please keep in mind that I was only pursuing the goal of worshipping God - worshipping as it is written in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. And how this could undermine the constitutional order or make me a propagator of extremist ideas, I sincerely do not understand. From the above facts of the accusation, I see that it is not the presence of extremism in my words and my actions that is a crime, but only the name of my religion and the fact that I am not shy about being a Jehovah's Witness.

However, this does not surprise me. In the Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 20, there is an immutable truth that Jesus himself expressed: "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my word, they will keep yours." Strangely, for some reason, in relation to every Jehovah's Witness against whom a criminal case has been initiated, the accusation is based on high-sounding words that defame human dignity. And when it comes to the essence of the accusation, for some reason these words turn into letters and carry nothing but humiliation. So it is in my case.

I'll give you an example from history. In the Soviet Union, since 1925, the Orthodox Church has suffered severe persecution. Many churches were destroyed or used for non-religious purposes. Although people could no longer gather in church, does this mean that they stopped believing, celebrating holidays, using church paraphernalia and talking about God? No, and as we know, they did a lot of things stealthily. Can we say that they are extremists and continued the activities of the church? No, they did only what their conscience and faith prompted them to do.

It was solely my views on peaceful life as a believer who wants a quiet and peaceful life that brought me to court. Is it bad to have different views on life than others? For example, the coat of arms of the Russian Federation depicts St. George the Victorious. He is a Christian martyr. He lived under the Emperor Diocletian, and when he became a Christian, his worldview changed. He refused to participate in the bloodshed, refused to fight. He was put to death for this. Now it is one of the symbols of the Russian Federation. That is, because of his beliefs, the man was put on trial, and after that the massacre followed.

Living the way Jesus Christ taught — according to high standards of morality and purity — is not a crime. Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation states: "Everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right 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."

Who was this constitutional law written for? If it is for people, then why is this constitutional instruction ignored?

The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation confirmed that after the liquidation of the Management Center and local religious organizations (mPOS), Jehovah's Witnesses have the right to gather together and profess their faith personally or with others. Unfortunately, the investigating authorities illegally deprived me of the constitutional right to worship freely, read the Bible, sing songs and pray. I was, in fact, told: "No, you don't have that right," and now you have to defend your honor and rights in court.

The divine services with my co—religionists, who are accused of me, were held in accordance with the highest law of the state - the Constitution of the Russian Federation. But these actions were misinterpreted as participation in the activities of the MRO, which officially no longer exists.

If the purpose of punishment is to prevent the commission of new crimes, then have I committed crimes? As the Government of the Russian Federation points out, no special permits are required for prayers, and Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation allows me to profess together with others the non-forbidden faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. If they want to condemn me for these actions, so that in the future I no longer pray, read the Bible and praise God in songs together with others, is this not a gross violation of my rights and social justice?

Then why is this trial and investigation going on? I am sure that all this was so that the court, the prosecution, and other participants would be convinced that Jehovah's Witnesses are not criminals.

During the trial, we all, figuratively speaking, attended the Christian worship service of Jehovah's Witnesses. We watched videos of the service. You have seen that this is a peaceful meeting, and it does not pose any threat to the constitutional order. People pray, discuss religious texts, sing songs, and talk peacefully after the meeting. No one forces anyone, does not force anything, does not mention any local religious organization. And we saw this on the recording of the meeting of believers. You don't need to be an expert to understand that this meeting is not a legal entity, but a meeting of friends united by one faith.

I and many of my co-religionists were recognized as extremists. But the God we worship has never taught us to be hostile. Jehovah God does not teach to rebel against the state, the constitution. On the contrary, in the Bible, in the Letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, in the 13th chapter, 1st and 2nd verses it says: "Every person must obey the highest authorities, because any authority is from God. The existing authorities occupy the places assigned to them by God. Therefore, anyone who opposes authority is rebelling against the order established by God, and such a person will incur condemnation." That is why Jehovah's Witnesses do not rebel against the constitutional order and order, otherwise they will receive condemnation from God.

A Bible-trained conscience dictates that Jehovah's Witnesses obey those in authority. Jehovah wants those who serve him to respect and obey human governments. Against this background, the accusation against me of undermining the foundations of the constitutional order sounds absurd, and in fact article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also belongs to this category of crimes. Dear court, I am not guilty before my God Jehovah, nor before the state, nor before people, because there are not even any victims!

Most likely, the real reasons for the persecution will be told or written about someday. It's always been like this. This will become history. However, I am sure that God still knows the true reasons for this persecution. Jesus said, "For there is nothing secret that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be made known and revealed" (Luke 8:17).

I am sure that real happiness depends on the realization that God approves of you. His approval depends on whether you act out of love for him and others. Love for God and for my neighbors is the main motive of all my actions. And this has nothing to do with extremism, which is the essence of all parts of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

One of the versions of the address "your Honor" is connected with the history of Roman law. In Rome, the concepts of "honor" and "right" have always been inextricably linked. Honor is a citizen's right. If a citizen was deprived of his rights, he was deprived of his honor, and the court could restore it. In addition, there was a popular saying among the Romans: "Your honor and conscience are responsible for passing a fair sentence." Over time, this expression has been shortened to a short "your Honor." Many also believe that the appearance of the address "your Honor" is directly related to the nature of the judges' activities. The judge is the personification of justice, integrity and honor, so the phrase "your Honor" expresses this circumstance like no other.

Yes, Your Honor, it is in your power to put an end to these brutal persecutions of believers or to untie the hands of those who, by analogy, continue blindly, without delving into evidence and facts, to pass guilty verdicts.

I really hope, Your Honor, that you will not formally treat the sentencing, and also that your name will not go down in the history of repression, but you will be remembered as a man who did everything possible in his circumstances to protect the citizens of his country from unfair accusations.

Your Honor, I ask you to restore me to my rights, make a fair decision and fully acquit me.

Summary of the case

Region:

Crimea

Locality:

Sevastopol

What is suspected of:

"Aware of the public danger and illegality of their actions aimed at undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state. Acting out of extremist motives took active action expressed in repeated participation in religious meetings. He preached at meetings. Actively participated in the study of religious literature"

Criminal case number:

12302670004000034

Case initiated:

May 17, 2023

The current stage of the case:

Appeal

Is being investigated by:

The IC of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2)

Case number in court:

1-345/2023

The Court of First Instance:

Nakhimov District Court of Sevastopol

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Valery Kuznetsov