The last word of the defendant Pavel Sidorenko in Krasnodar

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Pavel Sidorenko in Krasnodar

April 3, 2024

Krasnodarskiy kray

Addressing the court, the believer said: "I did not commit a crime, but only exercised my constitutional right to believe in Jehovah God and live in harmony with my religious beliefs and share these beliefs with others."

Transcript of the court session in Goryacheklyuchevsky City Court of Krasnodar Territory dated 04/03/2024 in the case 1-8/2024 (1-74/2023) on charges of Pavel Ivanovich Sidorenko of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Sidorenko Pavel Ivanovich:

Dear Court, I am very glad that I have the opportunity to speak with the last word and say very important information. Please listen to me carefully.

The Bible teaches me to be grateful. It says, "Be grateful" (Colossians 3:15). Therefore, I would like to express my gratitude first of all to you, Your Honor, for the friendly, calm atmosphere during the meetings, for your patience with me. When I made mistakes or misunderstood something in procedural matters, you kindly tried to explain some nuances. You were attentive when reviewing the case materials and tried to understand the essence of what you heard and saw. You also, Your Honor, gave me enough time to prepare for the defense arguments. Although I was in the role of the defendant, I did not feel tense, I did not feel nervous.

Thank you, Olga Serafimovna, as the state prosecutor for your friendliness and sincerity. Thank you for trying to get to the bottom of the case, for not objecting to the inclusion of many important documents in the case file, and for listening carefully to the arguments of the defense. You didn't treat me like a criminal, you respected my dignity as a human being. I would also like to praise you for your expressive, literate and clear reading.

Thank you, Elena Andreevna, for using your experience as a lawyer, listening attentively to the speeches of both sides, and giving me advice if necessary.

Thank you, Julia, for the conscientious performance of your secretarial duties, your kind and respectful attitude towards me, and your smile.

Many thanks to my loving friends who supported me throughout the process with their prayers, letters, words, and their presence in any weather.

Of course, I am very grateful to my wife Marina, who, despite her health problems, tried to attend every meeting. Her positive attitude is a great encouragement to me.

But most of all, I am grateful to my God Jehovah, who entrusted me to speak in defense of his name. Why is this important?

Jesus attached the utmost importance to sanctifying the name of God. His exemplary prayer, known to many as "Our Father," begins with the words: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name" (Matthew 6:9). Since God is holy, he is crystal clear and righteous, his name is holy. The question arises: why then sanctify his name? The fact is that a name implies a reputation. When people tell lies about Jehovah, they undermine his reputation. And by undermining his reputation, they defame his name. Therefore, Jesus taught to pray that Jehovah's name would be cleansed of lies and slander, and his reputation restored.

As a Christian believer, I tried to tell people the truth about God, about his name. When I showed an employee the name of God in the "Biblical Encyclopedia", published in 1891 under the editorship of the Orthodox priest Archimandrite Nikifor, this gave grounds for accusing me of extremism — copies of the pages mentioning the name Jehovah were attached to the materials of the criminal case as material evidence of my involvement in extremism. But Jehovah and extremism are absolutely incompatible concepts!

When talking to people, I referred to the Bible, calling it the Holy Scriptures. Because of this, I was accused of distributing allegedly banned extremist material. However, the Bible is Holy Scripture. It says: "All Scripture is inspired by God [i.e. inspired by God]" (2 Timothy 3:16). Therefore, the author of the Holy Scripture [the Bible] is God Jehovah. Therefore, classifying the Holy Scriptures [the Bible] as extremist material is tantamount to accusing Jehovah of extremism. This undermines his reputation.

When was the name of God first defamed? The Bible tells us that this happened in the Garden of Eden, back at the dawn of mankind, when one rebellious angel, who became Satan, i.e. the Enemy, uttered the first lie about God. What was it? That Jehovah is not a loving Father, that he hides something good from Adam and Eve and restricts their freedom with his unreasonable demands. Satan also hinted that people would be much happier if they stopped obeying God and lived independently of him, i.e. they would set the moral standards of good and evil themselves. It was a vile slander against God. This is how Satan undermined God's reputation.

To clear his name from slander and restore the reputation of a loving heavenly Father, Jehovah sent his son Jesus to earth to tell the truth about his Father. To Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, Jesus said: "I was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37). And shortly before his death, Jesus said in prayer to his heavenly Father: "I have glorified you on earth... having completed the work that you entrusted to me, I have revealed your name to people" (John 17:4, 6). But Jesus didn't just pronounce the Father's name. He revealed to people what kind of person God is and what qualities he possesses. In doing so, Jesus defended Jehovah's reputation. Yes, God has many wonderful qualities. He is understanding, patient, forgiving, merciful, compassionate, just, wise. But the most outstanding quality of Jehovah is love.

The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8). We can say that Jehovah is the personification of love. Whatever he does, he does out of love. For example, he didn't start creating because he was bored or needed someone or something. No! It was love that prompted him to create angels in heaven and people on earth, so that they too would be happy and enjoy life. After all, Jehovah himself calls himself a happy God (1 Timothy 1:11). God's love is visible in the way he created our beautiful Earth. The world around us is full of extraordinary beauty. We are fascinated by beautiful sunsets, the night sky studded with stars that sparkle like diamonds on black velvet, snow-white clouds in a blue sky, picturesque mountains, forests, lakes, oceans, waterfalls and much more. Jehovah also took care of a variety of food — not only nutritious, but also pleasant to the taste. He also created various interesting animals and many beautiful and fragrant flowers. The amazing diversity of flora and fauna is simply amazing. As Thomas Brown, a 17th—century physician, said, "nature is the art of God." By creating such beauty, Jehovah wanted people to be able not just to live, but to enjoy life forever, having perfect health.

But today people do not live in heavenly conditions, and human life is full of grief and suffering. And all this is because of the disobedience of our forefathers, Adam and Eve. They were given only one command: not to eat the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This tree symbolized the Creator's right to rule over people and establish moral norms of good and evil. Adam and Eve, after eating the fruit, appropriated the right to decide what is good and what is evil, thereby showing that they want to live independently of the Creator. Disobeying God, they became sinful and therefore lost the opportunity to have perfect health and live forever in paradise on earth. Moreover, sin was passed down with the genes to future descendants. That's why all people get sick, get old, and die.

Since all people became sinners against their will, Jehovah took care to restore justice and return what our forefathers had lost. To do this, God sent his sinless Son Jesus to earth to give his life as a redemptive sacrifice. That's how Jesus said it: "God loves the world [i.e. all mankind] so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in him... would have eternal life" (John 3:16). In this, God's greatest love for sinful people was manifested, regardless of their racial, national, or social origin, as we read about it in the Bible: "God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he who fears him and acts justly is pleasing to him" (Acts 10:34, 35). Jehovah cares even for those who do not respect his authority. He "causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). Jehovah is also ready to show mercy to all who repent and stop doing evil.

As I mentioned earlier, Satan slandered Jehovah, undermined his reputation as a just ruler and a loving, caring Father. Since Jehovah values his reputation, he intends to eliminate all people's problems in the near future. He will do this with the help of the heavenly Kingdom, or government, for the coming of which Jesus taught his followers to pray (Matthew 6:10). Jehovah appointed his Son, Jesus Christ, who is the best ruler, as the head of this government. Why? Because he loves people so much that he willingly gave his life for sinful people in order to free them from the bondage of sin and death. But his heavenly Father resurrected him, and now Jesus occupies a very high position in heaven — second only to his Father.

To clear his name from slander and restore the reputation of a loving heavenly Father, Jehovah sent his son Jesus to earth to tell the truth about his Father. To Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, Jesus said: "I was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37). And shortly before his death, Jesus said in prayer to his heavenly Father: "I have glorified you on earth... having completed the work that you entrusted to me, I have revealed your name to people" (John 17:4, 6). But Jesus didn't just pronounce the Father's name. He revealed to people what kind of person God is and what qualities he possesses. In doing so, Jesus defended Jehovah's reputation. Yes, God has many wonderful qualities. He is understanding, patient, forgiving, merciful, compassionate, just, wise. But the most outstanding quality of Jehovah is love.

The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8). We can say that Jehovah is the personification of love. Whatever he does, he does out of love. For example, he didn't start creating because he was bored or needed someone or something. No! It was love that prompted him to create angels in heaven and people on earth, so that they too would be happy and enjoy life. After all, Jehovah himself calls himself a happy God (1 Timothy 1:11). God's love is visible in the way he created our beautiful Earth. The world around us is full of extraordinary beauty. We are fascinated by beautiful sunsets, the night sky studded with stars that sparkle like diamonds on black velvet, snow-white clouds in a blue sky, picturesque mountains, forests, lakes, oceans, waterfalls and much more. Jehovah also took care of a variety of food — not only nutritious, but also pleasant to the taste. He also created various interesting animals and many beautiful and fragrant flowers. The amazing diversity of flora and fauna is simply amazing. As Thomas Brown, a 17th—century physician, said, "nature is the art of God." By creating such beauty, Jehovah wanted people to be able not just to live, but to enjoy life forever, having perfect health.

But today people do not live in heavenly conditions, and human life is full of grief and suffering. And all this is because of the disobedience of our forefathers, Adam and Eve. They were given only one command: not to eat the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This tree symbolized the Creator's right to rule over people and establish moral norms of good and evil. Adam and Eve, after eating the fruit, appropriated the right to decide what is good and what is evil, thereby showing that they want to live independently of the Creator. Disobeying God, they became sinful and therefore lost the opportunity to have perfect health and live forever in paradise on earth. Moreover, sin was passed down with the genes to future descendants. That's why all people get sick, get old, and die.

Since all people became sinners against their will, Jehovah took care to restore justice and return what our forefathers had lost. To do this, God sent his sinless Son Jesus to earth to give his life as a redemptive sacrifice. That's how Jesus said it: "God loves the world [i.e. all mankind] so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in him... would have eternal life" (John 3:16). In this, God's greatest love for sinful people was manifested, regardless of their racial, national, or social origin, as we read about it in the Bible: "God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he who fears him and acts justly is pleasing to him" (Acts 10:34, 35). Jehovah cares even for those who do not respect his authority. He "causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). Jehovah is also ready to show mercy to all who repent and stop doing evil.

As I mentioned earlier, Satan slandered Jehovah, undermined his reputation as a just ruler and a loving, caring Father. Since Jehovah values his reputation, he intends to eliminate all people's problems in the near future. He will do this with the help of the heavenly Kingdom, or government, for the coming of which Jesus taught his followers to pray (Matthew 6:10). Jehovah appointed his Son, Jesus Christ, who is the best ruler, as the head of this government. Why? Because he loves people so much that he willingly gave his life for sinful people in order to free them from the bondage of sin and death. But his heavenly Father resurrected him, and now Jesus occupies a very high position in heaven — second only to his Father.

When Jesus lived on earth, he also showed qualities such as compassion, mercy, kindness, and caring. So, thanks to the supernatural power that his heavenly Father endowed him with, Jesus miraculously fed many people, healed from any diseases, controlled the forces of nature and even resurrected the dead. He showed on a small scale what he would do in the future when he began to rule over the whole earth.

But despite all the miracles that Jesus performed, he was known not as a healer and miracle worker, but as a teacher who taught the truth about God, about the heavenly Kingdom. Jesus emphasized that everyone can become truly happy if they know the will of God and do it (Luke 11:28).

It is also impossible to deceive Jesus, "because he himself sees everyone's heart." He hates lies, greed, hypocrisy and other evils, so he will rule people fairly.

As already mentioned, Jesus Christ is the head of God's Kingdom, which will rule from heaven over people. Here are just some points from the program of this government:

1. Establish a truly peaceful and safe environment. "There will be great peace," and "everyone will sit under his vine and under his figs, and no one will make them afraid" (Isaiah 54:13; Micah 4:4).

2. Put an end to disease and death. "No one will say, 'I am sick,'" and "there will be no more death" (Isaiah 33:24; Revelation 21:4).

3. Provide everyone with an interesting and enjoyable job. "People will build houses and live in them, they will plant vineyards and eat their fruits" and "they will not work in vain" (Isaiah 65:21, 23).

4. Solve environmental problems. "The desert and the dry land will rejoice, the arid plain will rejoice and bloom like saffron" (Isaiah 35:1).

5. It will bring millions of the dead back to life. "There will be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous" (Acts 24:15).

In the near future, Jehovah will eliminate all human suffering and make it as if they never existed. So he will restore his good name. In other words, he will prove that his rule is the best and only it can bring peace and happiness to mankind.

God himself wants all people to know about the wonderful blessings, so he ordered his servants to tell about this Kingdom. In the Gospel of Matthew 24:14 it is written: "The glad tidings of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the earth so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come." The end of what? Evil, violence, crime, extremism, terrorism and everything that darkens people's lives.

In the first century, the disciples of Jesus Christ zealously preached the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God. This news spread rapidly throughout Judea. The adherents of Judaism did not like this very much. Then the members of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish Supreme Court) strictly forbade Christians to preach this message. In response, the apostles Peter and John said: "Judge for yourself, is it right in the eyes of God to listen to you and not to God? Therefore, we cannot help but talk about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19, 20). One of the members of the Sanhedrin, Priest Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, spoke in support of the apostles. He said: "I'm telling you: leave these people alone, don't touch them. After all, if this plan or business is from people, then it will collapse, and if it is from God, you will not be able to destroy it. Otherwise, it may turn out that you are fighting with God himself" (Acts 5:38, 39). The judges listened and released the apostles.

The preaching of the glad tidings could not be stopped, because the disciples of Jesus Christ were fully aware of their responsibility to God, as the Apostle Paul wrote about it: "If I preach the glad tidings, then this is not a reason to boast, because this is my duty. And woe to me if I do not preach the good news!" (1 Corinthians 9:16).

And nowadays, Jehovah's Witnesses, including me, take this responsibility very seriously. Thanks to the sermon, everyone living on earth is given the opportunity to hear the good news about the Kingdom of God. Since Jehovah is a loving and just God, he allows such processes so that very busy people like you, dear court, can hear the good news from our Creator. And whether to accept it or not, everyone decides for himself.

Therefore, as a Jehovah's Witness, I cannot help but tell others the truth about God and his plans. I once asked the investigator: "How can I use the right to freely spread religious beliefs in accordance with Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and not be criminally prosecuted? Can I share with others what I believe in?" The investigator replied, "You can, but silently, to yourself." However, there are no such restrictions in article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Besides, if I hid the good news from God from people, then it would be a manifestation of selfishness on my part, and not love for them. When I shared with people thoughts from the Bible, which teaches goodness, love for God and for people, I was considered an extremist. But where there is love, there is no place for extremism! I definitely wish people all the best, so that they have hope for a wonderful future, hope for eternal life on paradise land, when there will be no diseases, old age and even death.

To inherit a wonderful future, it is important to know the name of God and trust him. The Bible says: "For everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved." But how do you summon someone you don't believe in? How can you believe in someone you haven't heard of? How can I hear without a preacher? And how can they preach if they are not sent?" (Romans 10:13-15). Also in Psalm 90:14 it says: "Because he loved me, I will deliver him, I will protect him, because he has known my name." It is clear from these words that God wants people to address him by name, because their future depends on it.

Unfortunately, many modern Bible translators have removed this name from their translations and replaced it with the titles "God" and "Lord". But there were also those who treated the name of the Creator with deep respect. For example, Mikhail Yakovlevich Glukharev, known as Archimandrite Macarius, who possessed amazing linguistic abilities, and Gerasim Petrovich Pavsky, professor of the Hebrew language. They were respected members of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as philologists. At the beginning of the 19th century, Glukharev and Pavsky wanted to make the Bible accessible to the common people.

A hundred years before them, the importance of this was also realized by the Russian tsar Peter I. It is noteworthy that he had the deepest respect for the Holy Scriptures and said: "The Bible is a book that is superior to all books."

In 1815, Emperor Alexander I ordered the president of the Russian Bible Society, Prince Alexander Golitsyn, to propose to the Holy Synod "to provide Russians with a way to read the Word of God in their natural Russian language."

Of course, the name of God was given great importance. Here is what the Russian researcher I. N. Korsunsky wrote about this: "The name of God, the most sacred of His names (now read Jehovah)."

In Macarius' translation, the name Jehovah occurs more than 3,500 times. For example, Macarius translated the words from Isaiah 12:4 as follows: "And you will say on that day, 'Praise Jehovah, call on his name; proclaim his deeds among the nations; preach how great his name is.'" Pavsky also used the name of God in translation. The book "The Biblical Encyclopedia", which was published in 1891 under the editorship of the Orthodox priest Archimandrite Nikephoros, contains many proper names, which include the name Jehovah. For example, the name Jesus (the Greek form of the Hebrew name Yeshua or Yehoshua) means "Jehovah's help."

The name of God Jehovah was known and used by many prominent people: writers, poets, composers. Here are just a few of them: Nikolai Karamzin, Fyodor Glinka, Alexander Pushkin, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Anton Chekhov, Alexander Kuprin, Sergei Yesenin, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Marina Tsvetaeva, Nikolai Ostrovsky.

The very name Jehovah is filled with deep meaning. It means, "He gives you to become." In other words, Jehovah allows his will and intentions to be realized, and no one can prevent him from doing so. This means that God Jehovah will definitely do what He has planned for people and the earth.

The charge says that during a certain period of time, I had a criminal intent to commit illegal acts. In fact, none of the people can accurately know and see the motives, thoughts and motives of a person. Only God can do that. The Bible explicitly says: "You alone know the heart of all the sons of men" (3 Samuel 8:39). The heart refers to the inner essence of a person: his desires, feelings, motives, thoughts and motives.

I have never had any extremist motives or actions. On the contrary, I had only one motive — to carry the good news, that is, the good news contained in the Bible. This is the news that soon God Jehovah, the Creator of the entire universe, will restore paradise conditions on earth.

In conclusion, I want to say that my life as a whole, as well as the actions that I am accused of, are exclusively peaceful. As a Christian believer with 33 years of experience, my views are based on love for God and love for people and have nothing to do with extremism.

Dear Court, I did not commit a crime, but only exercised my constitutional right to believe in Jehovah God, live in harmony with my religious beliefs and share these beliefs with others. And this was not a "continuation of the activities of a banned religious organization."

Summary of the case

Region:

Krasnodarskiy kray

Locality:

Krasnodar

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, "there was a criminal intent to commit illegal actions for further participation in the activities of a local religious organization prohibited by law."

Criminal case number:

12207030001000005

Case initiated:

January 20, 2022

The current stage of the case: Appeal

Is being investigated

by the investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of the Krasnodar Territory

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (2)

Case number in court:

1-8/2024 (1-74/2023)

Court of First Instance:

Goryacheklyuchevsky City Court of Krasnodar Territory

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Zhanna Velichko