The last word of the defendant Alam Aliyev in Birobidzhan

 RUSSIA 

November 28, 2022

Jewish JSC

From the courtroom

"If I am recognized as an extremist, how many years will I have to wait to be rehabilitated?" the believer addressed the court, recalling in his last word the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the USSR and their complete rehabilitation in 1992.

Transcript of the court session in the Birobidzhan District Court of the EAO dated 11/28/2022 in the case № 1-8/2022 (1-65/2021; 1-609/2020) on the charges of Aliev Alam Abdulaziz and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Aliev Alam Abdulaziz:

Your Honor! Although the case you considered is a criminal one, at the same time, all the actions I committed are not criminally punishable. And therefore, the corpus delicti is not formed. The goals and motives of my actions, as I have already stated, are inextricably linked to my worship of Jehovah God. I worship him not the way I want to, but the way he established it in the Bible. By doing so, I show trust and obedience to God and I believe that this is good for me.

For me, my God is the Father who gave me life and takes care of me, supporting my life with the help of established natural laws. After all, our life is possible only on Earth. Because everything on it is lovingly prepared for a person. Just as any human father wishes his child well-being, so does our heavenly Father. I'm sure he sincerely wants my life to be happy and filled with deep meaning. This is how he says it himself in his word of the Bible: "That's what Jehovah says: I am Jehovah, your God, teaching you useful things, leading you on the path that you should follow. Oh, if you would only heed My commandments! then your peace would be like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea" (Isaiah 48:17, 18; Exodus 6:3, footnote).

Your Honor, I want to tell you in detail about my motives and goals. The fact is that I don't believe that humans are descended from monkeys, it's insulting to me. Moreover, Darwin's theory has remained just a theory without evidence for more than 150 years. It does not shed light on how life itself on Earth originated in general. We are all parents, we gave birth to our children, so it is logical to conclude that life can only come from another life and in no other way.

The Bible says that God is the source of life, and that he created all living things "according to his kind." Dogs were created by dogs, cats were created by cats, and man was created by man. The diversity of living beings is possible only within their kind. We see how people breed many breeds of dogs and cats, but all this happens only within their genus, there is no such animal as a cat. Also, we will never see a half-human, half-monkey anywhere. Because, as we know, this is impossible.

Although the Bible is not a scientific book, it is surprisingly accurate. She explains complex things in simple language. And all the explanations are consistent with other facts from different areas of our lives. Now, the Bible says that man is the crown of God's creation. He stands above the animal class. Man is given power over the entire animal world. God created man in his own image, that is, endowed him with the qualities that he possesses. And just as any designer applies an instruction manual to his product, so our Creator left us a "manual" — the Bible. It is, in fact, an instruction on how to use life. And anyone who violates this instruction loses the right to warranty service. And just as with proper operation of technology, a person enjoys its well—coordinated work, so when following the biblical principles, people will be rewarded by God - a happy, peaceful and eternal life on earth. It is then that people will enjoy life, and not suffer, get sick, feel fear or need, as, unfortunately, it often happens nowadays.

There are such words in the Bible: "Man will not live by bread alone." But only a few people know their continuation, which sounds like this: "But also with every word that comes out of the mouth of God." These words mean that although physical food is important to us, our lives depend on it, it alone is not enough. To maintain life, we also need to nourish our mind and heart with every word that comes from our Creator. To nourish does not mean to put it in your mouth and swallow it. Spiritual food must also be carefully chewed, that is, to reflect, to use all your thinking abilities, to compare with already known facts. Only then will it benefit and strengthen faith.

In court sessions, the word "God" had to be pronounced very often, and I am sure that everyone present, hearing this word, imagined it in their own way. Some may have imagined God in the form of images painted by people, others in the form of an old man with a staff on a cloud, and for others, perhaps, this word is nonsense at all. The Bible says that there are many gods, even money or one's own desires can become a god.

I want to briefly tell you who I meant when I talked about God. The god I worship, as I have already said, is called Jehovah, and this name distinguishes him from all other gods, it is unique and one of a kind. It belongs only to our Creator. He called himself that and explained what his name meant. His name means "he gives to become," or in other words, he is the one who is the root cause.

Jehovah is a spiritual person. Although it may not be completely familiar to us, life can exist both in physical form and in another, spiritual form. We will never be able to see God, because it is dangerous for our lives. He is that colossal force, or energy, from which all the matter around us originated. Because he is a person, he has many qualities that are reflected and manifested in his creations. Of these, four qualities are the main ones: strength, wisdom, justice and love. Jehovah shows all these qualities harmoniously and equably in relation to his creations.

As I said before, my faith in God is not credulity. It is based on concrete facts and evidence. The existence of an invisible Creator is vividly evidenced by all visible creations, as well as, for example, existing physical laws. After all, as we all understand, a law can never appear without a legislator, and scientists do not create these laws, but only discover them.

Also, dear court, I want to tell you why I believe that I am being persecuted precisely for my faith in God and that this persecution is politically motivated.

We know that the name of each religion is based on something and makes sense. Therefore, I would like to briefly remind you why the religion I have chosen is called Jehovah's Witnesses. Even in ancient times, the God Jehovah, who chose the Israelites as his people, turned to them and showed for what purpose he chose them. In the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 43, verses 10-12, his words are recorded: "But my witnesses, says Jehovah, are you and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me, and understand that it is I: there was no God before Me and there will be no God after Me. I am Jehovah, and there is no Savior but Me. I have foretold and saved and proclaimed; but you have no other, and you are My witnesses, says Jehovah, that I am God."

It can be seen from this Scripture that Jehovah God calls the Israelites his witnesses. It is safe to say that the Israelites were Jehovah's Witnesses and strictly lived according to the laws written in the Bible. This nation was constantly persecuted by other powerful nations, and there were always attempts to destroy it. History clearly shows how successive world powers such as Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon persecuted and oppressed Israel.

After Christ appeared on earth and founded the Christian assembly, not only Jews, but also people of other nationalities became the people of God, or Jehovah's Witnesses. In the Bible, in the book of Acts, chapter 15, verse 14, it says this: "God first showed His concern for the Gentiles by choosing from them a people who would bear His name." Now Christians have come to be considered the people of God, that is, the people bearing his name (here I want to clarify that the terms "Jehovah's people" or "Jehovah's organization" are not legal, but spiritual, canonical).

However, if we look at the history of Christianity in the 1st century AD, we will see how severely they were persecuted in the Roman Empire. This can be traced both in the Bible and in historical books. I will not talk about the numerous executions of Christians of that time, both elderly and young, men, women, children... but I want to draw attention to just one episode of political persecution, which is the most unfair. The person who was subjected to such persecution was Jesus Christ, and the judge was Pontius Pilate.

What was Jesus accused of? He was charged with blasphemy. Today, any historian or believer agrees that it was unjustified and politically motivated. Please note what conclusion the judge came to after the judicial investigation. It is written about this in the Gospel of John, chapter 19, verse 4: "Pilate went out to the crowd again and said, Look! I am bringing him to you so that you know that I find no fault with him." But look at the decision he made, succumbing to pressure from the religious leaders of that time. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27, verse 26, in the second part of the verse, it is said: "But he ordered Jesus to be flogged and then gave him to be executed on a stake."

It is well known that every person has a conscience given by God. This is confirmed by the words from the Bible: "When pagans who do not have the law voluntarily do what the law requires, they themselves are the embodiment of the law, although they do not have a written law. This is manifested in the fact that they understand in their hearts what is right and what is wrong in accordance with the law, and their conscience confirms this. Sometimes their reason tells them that they have done wrong, and that makes them guilty. Sometimes their reason tells them that they did the right thing, and this makes them innocent" (Romans 2:14, 15, Modern translation).

Unfortunately, Pontius Pilate, deliberately ignoring the God-given voice of his conscience, made an illegal decision in relation to an innocent man, Jesus Christ. Therefore, Your Honor, do not ignore the voice of conscience when you make a decision.

It is noteworthy that Jesus not only suffered persecution and injustice himself, but also warned his disciples about it. These are his words: "But be careful, for you will be judged [...] you will stand before rulers and kings to testify before them about Me" (Mark 13:9).

Now I would like to briefly tell you how these prophetic words of Jesus have been fulfilled throughout history. For example, about the times of the so-called Middle Ages. It is well known that then any person who dared to have or read the Bible, as well as tried to replicate it, or, upon learning about the truth written in it, expressed disagreement with the teachings of the church, was certainly sentenced to death by burning at the stake along with the Bible as a heretic.

One of these people was William Tyndall. In the autumn of 1536, he was tied to a stake, strangled, and his body burned in front of a crowd. What was he guilty of? Tyndall tried to reconcile the teachings of the church with the results of his own Bible research. He was one of the first to try to translate the Bible from the original languages into English. William Tyndall died with the unshakeable belief that the Bible is the word of God.

And this is how Jehovah's Witnesses were treated in the twentieth century. I will give an example of only two states, and the first of them is Germany. The Nazi regime purposefully persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses (or Bible Researchers) who, because of their religious beliefs, refused to swear allegiance to the secular government and serve in the armed forces. Initially, the position of Jehovah's Witnesses in relation to the state system was manifested only in the refusal to raise their hand in a Nazi salute. Unlike Jews and Gypsies, who became victims for racial reasons, Jehovah's Witnesses had the opportunity to protect themselves by recognizing Nazi power and agreeing to serve in the army. But because it went against their religious beliefs, the vast majority of Jehovah's Witnesses refused to do so, despite the risk of persecution, torture in concentration camps and death.

Paul Johnson, in his book The History of Christianity, wrote: "The Jehovah's Witnesses distinguished themselves with real courage, who from the very beginning openly spoke about the contradiction of their teachings with Nazism, and suffered for it. They did not support the Nazi state in any way." A similar conclusion was made by Professor Christine King: "Jehovah's Witnesses really were not silent. They've been talking since the beginning. They spoke with one voice. And they spoke with the greatest courage that we could all learn from."

We know from history that people who were involved in all the cruelties of that time liked to say that a lie told many times becomes the truth. Indeed, any persecution has always been based on lies. […]

Dr. Detliff Garbe from the memorial center in northern Germany recalls that even before the war, from 5 to 10 percent of all concentration camp prisoners were Jehovah's Witnesses. [...] Tens of thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses suffered from the Nazi regime in one way or another. Their income was deprived, their children were taken away from their parents. In the years after 1938, 1,300 Jehovah's Witnesses of non-German origin from Austria, Holland, Poland, France and from the territory of the Soviet Union also entered the concentration camps.

Why am I talking about this now? Because every year on January 27, Germany celebrates the National Holocaust Memorial Day. The current year 2022 was no exception. On January 27, along with other groups of people who suffered at the hands of the Nazi regime, the courage and steadfastness of Jehovah's Witnesses, who during the Nazi era, while in concentration camps, wore a distinctive sign sewn on their clothes — a purple triangle, was widely publicized throughout the country. Why do Germany and other states consider it necessary to loudly proclaim these monstrous lessons of history? Because they have learned a bitter lesson and are making efforts to never repeat it.

I also want to give an example of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union, faith in God contradicted the ideas of communism. For this reason, believers, especially Jehovah's Witnesses, were tried and sentenced to long terms in camps. The terms ranged from 5 to 25 years, and many of those who had served their sentences were tried again and re-sent to camps.

In 1951, there was a mass deportation of Jehovah's Witnesses from the western part of the Soviet Union to Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Far East. The operation was codenamed "North". That winter, in inhumane conditions, in cold wagons adapted for transporting livestock, entire families with young children were sent into exile "to an eternal settlement", and all their property was confiscated in favor of the state.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia declared itself its successor and harshly condemned the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses as "American spies." In 1992, they were rehabilitated, and believers were given certificates of victims of political repression.

But for some reason, a little more than 20 years later, now in Russia itself, Jehovah's Witnesses began to be persecuted on far-fetched charges of so-called extremism. Has history really taught us nothing? Your Honor, if the court now recognizes me as an extremist, how many years will I have to wait to be rehabilitated?

We learned from the Bible how unfair Pilate's decision was against Jesus. Your Honor, I ask you to make a fair decision regarding me. And justice consists only in one thing: I have not committed a crime against the state or against its constitutional system. I did not participate in any extremist organization. I want to draw the court's attention once again to the fact that I am standing here not because I committed any crime, but as a Christian, for the name of Jesus Christ and his father Jehovah God. The Bible says about this: "If one of you suffers, then let it not be because he is a murderer, or a thief, or a criminal, or an informer. And if he suffers because he is a Christian, let him not be ashamed, let him praise God for bearing this name!" (1 Peter 4:14, 15)

Therefore, I am not ashamed to stand before the court for being a Jehovah's Witness... It would be a shame if I were tried for a real crime… The evidence provided by the prosecution only confirmed that I have always adhered to high moral standards myself and encouraged others to do so. After all, every Jehovah's Witness is a clergyman, and therefore should strive for holiness. The Bible records an appeal to Christians: "But follow the example of the Saint who called you, and be holy yourself in all your actions. For it is written, "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15, 16). Therefore, Your Honor, I am not ashamed to suffer for my Christian beliefs. And even if you say the word "extremist" to me repeatedly, even if you add my name to the shameful list of extremists and terrorists (as has already been done), it will never become true anyway. me 

Therefore, I ask you, dear court, to make the only fair decision against me — to acquit me completely.

Summary of the case

Region:

Jewish Autonomous Region

Locality:

Birobidzhan

What is suspected of:

According to investigators, he conducted divine services together with others, which is interpreted as "organizing the activities of an extremist organization" (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:

11807990001000008

Case initiated:

May 14, 2018

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Jewish Autonomous Region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)

The number of the case in court:

№ 1-8/2022 (1-65/2021; 1-609/2020)

Court:

Birobidzhan District Court of the EAO

Judge:

Yana Vladimirova