The last word of Elena Chechulina in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of Elena Chechulina in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

April 18, 2024

Kamchatka Territory

Speaking before the court, the believer said: "We are accused of continuing the activities of liquidated legal entities, whereas in fact we continue to worship God."

Transcript of the court session in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court dated 04/18/2024 in the case 1-70/2024 on charges of Elena Nikolaevna Chechulina and Sergey Vyacheslavovich Chechulin of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Chechulina Elena Nikolaevna:

Dear Court, Your Honor. I will begin my speech by outlining some of the truths that are fundamental to us, Jehovah's Witnesses.

My husband and I believe that Jehovah is the only true God and holds the position of Supreme Ruler by right of the Creator. We recognize that only He, as the Creator, is the highest Legislator and Judge, and we are convinced of the priority of His laws. We are convinced that the Bible is inspired by God, so we trust everything that is written in it. My husband and I are confident that all the laws and principles of God serve us well. We recognize that we owe our existence to God. We love Him, we want to be loyal and faithful to Him. These important truths determine our decisions, goals, motives and attitudes towards life.

We look at the cause of any injustice, in particular what is happening to us at the moment, from the point of view of a believer. From the Holy Scriptures, we know the answer to the question of why God allows any lawlessness to occur in the world.

Since you see all kinds of crimes every day because of your profession, I would like to tell the court why Almighty God allows all this. And it will also allow you to understand why Jehovah's Witnesses meet to worship together.

Why God allowed evil to exist up to our time is related to events that occurred at the dawn of human history. Then an important controversial issue was raised, affecting the Creator himself. This issue could not be resolved quickly and easily. Here's what happened. Jehovah God created the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, perfect and settled them in a beautiful place on earth. In the Bible it is called the Garden of Eden. He endowed people with free will, and thanks to this they could consciously decide that they would love their Creator and be obedient to him. Or they may have chosen the path of independence from God and deliberately disobeyed him.

Incited by a rebellious angel, who was later called Satan the Devil, the first people abused their free will and rejected God's norms of good and evil, represented by the command not to eat from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." God warned people that disobedience would bring them death, but the Devil claimed that they would not die if they disobeyed God. By doing so, he exposed God as a liar.

Satan also accused God of hiding from people the right to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil. Satan hinted that people would be better off without God's rule. So the question arose on a universal scale — does God have the right to be the Supreme Ruler?

The devil has raised another controversial issue. He accused people of serving God out of self-interest. About a righteous man named Job, the Devil said to God: "Did you not protect him, his family and property from all sides?.. But reach out and take it all away from him, and he will definitely curse you to your face" (Job 1:10, 11). Although Satan was talking about Job, he meant that all people serve God for selfish reasons and will leave him as soon as they encounter difficulties.

Your Honor, here I draw your attention once again — we are convinced that the Bible is the word of God and we trust everything that is written in it. Therefore, we perceive the reports about Job, Adam and Eve not as fictional legends, but as what actually happened.

It took time to resolve once and for all the important controversial issues posed by the Devil. God allowed people to rule over their own kind for a while, so that all intelligent creatures could clearly see whether it was really possible to achieve a peaceful, safe and happy life by rejecting God's norms. Time was also given to show whether all people really obey God only as long as it is beneficial to them.

What has been proven? The multitude of crimes that you are well aware of, wars, terrorist attacks and all other evils clearly prove that independence from God has not brought a better world. By rejecting God's norms, people were unable to ensure a peaceful, safe and happy life. This confirms a fundamental biblical truth: "Man's way is not in his power. He who walks cannot direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23).

We believe that only Jehovah, the Creator, has the right and is able to lead people's lives and can guarantee lasting peace, happiness and prosperity to mankind, because this is what God's plan is. We strengthen our faith in this at our weekly worship services or, as we call them, meetings of the congregation. When we come together, we study the biblical prophecies that have already been fulfilled and that are about to be fulfilled. We are discussing how we could apply the principles of the Bible in different areas of life. Some of these meetings were recorded, translated into text and read at court sessions.

Christians have been coming together for centuries to explore the Holy Scriptures and discuss spiritual issues. What kind of congregation did the Apostle Paul mean when he said "not to leave your congregation"? Definitely not a legal entity that is created in accordance with the law. The words of the Apostle Paul are two thousand years old; the legal entities that we are accused of organizing appeared, existed for a short time and disappeared, but the worship of God did not.

Your Honor, we are accused of continuing the activities of liquidated legal entities, when in fact we continue to worship God. By expressing our faith as required by the Holy Scriptures, we take God's side in the controversial issue of God's rule, although we are subject to criminal prosecution because of this. With our way of life, we want to refute the statement of Satan the Devil that all people serve God out of selfish motives and will leave him as soon as they encounter difficulties.

All people, without exception, regardless of whether they believe in God or not, take one side or another in these controversial issues. For their decisions, each person is personally responsible to the Supreme Judge, Jehovah God.

Summary of the case

Region:

Kamchatka Territory

Locality:

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky

What is suspected of:

In "convening meetings, organizing collective religious performances and worship services, in accordance with the ideology of the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses at these meetings ... Conducted planned training with other persons on the postulates of the religious association of Jehovah's Witnesses" (from the resolution on the initiation of criminal proceedings)

Criminal case number:

12202300011000019

Case initiated:

September 25, 2022

The current stage of the case: 

Appeal

Is being investigated by the SU IC of the Russian Federation for the Kamchatka Territory

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-70/2024 (1-997/2023)

Court of First Instance:

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Ivan Pantyashin