The last word of the defendant Sergei Kobelev in Lesozavodsk

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Sergei Kobelev in Lesozavodsk

January 26, 2023

Primorsky Krai

From the courtroom

The believer once again stressed, speaking with the last word, that he "did not commit any crime either before people, before the state, or before God," and the prosecution did not present "a single convincing proof of [his] guilt."

Transcript of the court session in the Lesozavodsky district Court of Primorsky Krai dated 01/26/2023 in the case 1-5/2023 (1-35/2022; 1-316/2021) on the charges of Kobelev Sergey Alexandrovich and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Kobelev Sergey Alexandrovich:

Dear Court, Your Honor, I would like to begin my last word with words of gratitude. Thank you, Your Honor, for being patient with my legal illiteracy, for carefully and thoughtfully considering all the circumstances of the case. Thank you, my lawyer, for supporting my position and for not doubting my innocence. Special thanks to the state prosecutor for trying to pronounce the name of my God correctly and put the right emphasis when reading out the case materials. And, of course, a huge thank you to my friends, relatives, and my co-religionists, who supported me with words and deeds throughout this difficult time for me.

At this trial, I clearly stated my position in testimony and debate. Based on the law and common sense, I have shown that there was no criminal intent or prohibited act in my actions. Everything I did, everything I did, was permitted by law and was expressed solely in wholeheartedly serving and obeying my God Jehovah. And all the evidence of my guilt presented by the prosecution proves only that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and just like him, I put the will of God first. No convincing evidence was provided that I continued the activities of the liquidated local religious organization. All the arguments of the prosecution were based solely on assumptions and were considered in the context of the fact that I am a Jehovah's Witness. For example, any harmless phrase in correspondence with Grinenko E. A., like the phrase "look at the mail", has already been presented by the prosecutor as confirmation of my illegal activities. And the prosecution did not even bother to explain how such moments are connected with the crime imputed to me and why they came to this conclusion.

Of course, none of this is new. And I am not the first and will not be the last to face false accusations and slander, who are judged for far-fetched reasons, whose "fault" is solely that they remain faithful to Jehovah. The same thing happened with Jesus Christ, whom the opponents put on trial by the Sanhedrin and Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of that region, accusing him of blasphemy and rebellion against Caesar — allegedly Jesus encouraged the people not to pay taxes. All these accusations were false, but this did not prevent the court from convicting Jesus and executing him as a criminal.

After Jesus' death, his disciples and followers also faced persecution and false accusations. Opponents of the teachings of Christ accused them of blasphemy, rebellion and other various crimes. Time passed and these Christians began to be considered martyrs, saints, no one now considers them criminals — everyone understands that those accusations were false.

Already in our time, in the recent past, in Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler promised to eradicate Jehovah's Witnesses — those who, unlike other churches, did not support his policy, refused to serve in the army and shout the greeting "Heil Hitler". The Word of God directly says that only our Creator, God Jehovah, is worthy of glory, that true followers of Christ should not participate in politics, should not take up arms and "learn to fight." And then false accusations began to be made against Jehovah's Witnesses that they were accomplices of communism, that they were "undermining the foundations of national unity."

Just listen to the indictment put forward by the German investigative authorities: "Under the guise of scientific Bible study, the International Association of Bible Researchers and related organizations are conducting an explicit slanderous campaign against the state and the Church in oral and written form. By calling both these institutions tools of Satan, they undermine the foundations of national unity. In their numerous publications... they mock the state and the church, maliciously distorting biblical illustrations. Their methods of struggle are characterized by fanatical influence on their followers; with substantial funds, they are gaining strength to undermine our culture with their Bolshevik propaganda... The Association of Bible Researchers and related societies are also promoting the introduction of communism in the political sphere and may soon become a haven for all kinds of anti-government elements… Therefore, in order to resist subversive activities and maintain public order and security, it is necessary to liquidate the Association in order to protect citizens and the state."

And as a result of the liquidation of the legal entity, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses in Nazi Germany were thrown into prisons and concentration camps only because they did not renounce their faith. It is noteworthy that it was enough for these people to sign a document renouncing their faith in God in order to avoid all the horrors of concentration camps and inhumane treatment of themselves, but literally only a few did it, and I repeat, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses did not give up their faith. Naturally, as in the example of the first Christians, history put everything in its place — the Nazi regime was recognized as inhuman, and Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany were recognized as victims of this regime.

The same fate awaited the true followers of Jesus Christ in the Soviet Union. All the same, thousands of families of Jehovah's Witnesses were forcibly relocated to Siberia from their places of residence on false accusations, already in "anti-Soviet activities". This operation was codenamed "North". A lot of historical and scientific articles have been written about her and broadcasts have been filmed. On April 1 and 2, 1951, more than 8,500 people (more than 3,000 families) were woken up in the morning by knocks on the door — they were given 2 hours to pack, loaded into freight wagons like cattle, and sent to the colony settlements. And only in 1965, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 30, 1965 No. 4020-1U, restrictions on special settlement were lifted and participants of the "sects "Jehovah's Witnesses", "true Orthodox Christians", "Innocents", "Adventists-reformists"and their family members." And only in 1996, by decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, all Jehovah's Witnesses deported to Siberia during the Soviet era were recognized as victims of political repression and rehabilitated. That is, it was again recognized that the accusations were false and in fact the reason for the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses was that they did not renounce their faith no matter what.

The situation is a little different today. We do not live in the first century, where human rights could only be dreamed of, not in Nazi Germany, where people were divided into higher and lower grades and experiments were carried out on people quite officially, not in the communist Soviet Union, where faith in God, if not forbidden, was certainly not welcomed, but everything Dissent was regarded as "sabotage of the enemies of the people." You and I live in a legal, democratic state, where the Constitution clearly states that "freedom of conscience and freedom of religion are guaranteed in the Russian Federation, including the right to profess individually or jointly with others any religion or not to profess any, to perform divine services, other religious rites and ceremonies, to carry out religious education and religious education, freely choose and change, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them, including by creating religious associations."

However, the methods of persecution for believing in God, unfortunately, do not change. There are still false accusations of undermining "statehood", of "criminal intent", and an accusation of "extremism" has been added. But the essence remains the same as throughout all the past centuries — the true followers of Jesus Christ remain faithful to their God no matter what. And they continue to be peaceful and loving people. In the Gospel of John, in the 15th chapter, verses 17-21, there are such wonderful words of Jesus: "I am telling you this so that you will love each other. If the world hates you, know that it hated me first. If you belonged to this world, the world would love you as its own. And since you do not belong to this world, but I have chosen you and separated you from it, the world hates you. Remember what I told you: a slave is no bigger than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours. But people will do this to you because of my name, because they don't know who sent me." We love people and want everyone to know about who sent Jesus to earth — about his father, Jehovah God. That's the only reason I'm being judged.

I still hope that times have really changed, and freedom, conscience, a fair and independent court are not just words, but a reality that exists.

Your Honor, dear court, I do not admit my guilt! My conscience is clear, I have not committed any crime either before people, before the state, or before God. There are no victims in this case, except for me and my co-religionists who are involved in this case. There is not a single convincing proof of my guilt. Therefore, hoping for your impartiality and honesty, I ask you to justify and compensate me for all the damage that I suffered in connection with this criminal prosecution.

Summary of the case

Region:

Primorsky Krai

Locality:

Lesozavodsk

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, "E. A. Grinenko assisted in organizing meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses in Lesozavodsk, acted as a coordinator"

Criminal case number:

12002050013000022

Case initiated:

May 12, 2020

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigates:

SO in the city of Lesozavodsk of the SU IC of the Russian Federation in the Primorsky Territory

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.2 (2)

Case number in court:

1-35/2022 (1-316/2021)

Court of First Instance:

Lesozavodsky District Court of Primorsky Krai

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Sergey Yarovenko