The last word of the defendant Andrey Perminov in Ash

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Andrey Perminov in Ash

on November 17, 2022.

Chelyabinsk region

From the courtroom

Addressing the court with the last word, the believer stressed that the prosecution substitutes concepts, calling his worship of God the actions of a legal entity, and the prosecutor's office forces him to abandon the worship of God, thanks to which he "has the meaning of life and hope."

Transcript of the court session in the Ashinsky City Court of the Chelyabinsk Region dated 11/17/2022 in the case 1-116/2022 on charges of Andrei Petrovich Perminov of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Perminov Andrey Petrovich:

At the beginning, I would like to thank everyone who took part in the process. Thank you, Your Honor, for conducting the process fairly. The state prosecutor said that there was no hatred in your words. My lawyer, who tried with great patience to convey the legal points to me. Thanks to the secretary too. Special thanks to the staff of the Federal Penitentiary Service for dragging me in an armchair up the stairs, over the thresholds. "The beauty of young men is their strength," said the wise King Solomon.

I thank my friends, far and near, who supported me, came to the trial, and prayed for me. My own brother, who was worried about me. And, of course, my dear wife. As a family, we've been through a lot lately, but my wife has always been my support.

So the trial has come to its logical end. Facts were announced, arguments were announced, and counterarguments were heard. Your Honor, any punishment is carried out with a specific purpose — to correct the perpetrator, to show that certain actions or omissions are unacceptable and condemned by society and the law. And this is right and fair. But I don't understand exactly how I should improve. What should I do? Throughout the whole process, we only learned that I am a Jehovah's Witness. And my whole fault is that I studied the Bible, sang songs, discussed biblical thoughts with friends and shared this knowledge with people.

The prosecution tried to substitute concepts. To pass off religious organization as legal, but in my case it was physically impossible, and it was pointless, because faith does not depend on the decree. Since ancient times, people have gathered together to worship God, and they did not need permission from any authorities.

It is enough to recall our Russian history. After the revolution, the Orthodox Church was separated from the state, but at the same time did not receive the rights of a private religious society: "No churches and religious societies have the right to own property. They do not have the rights of a legal entity" (Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin. "The Russian Orthodox Church and the State in 1917-1990: a legal aspect"). Did believers stop gathering together and celebrating religious rites after that? History says no.

If you ask any person what extremism is, then people have a very clear picture in their mind, which has characteristic features: violence, hatred, vandalism, etc. Your Honor, I do not accept extremism in any form. One day in the mid-1980s, when I was in school, my classmate was happy to talk about his weekends, how he and his friends drove sellers from the market, who were originally from the southern republics. I remember my feelings well at that moment — it was painful and unpleasant for me to hear. Now I understand the reason for such feelings. The Bible says that humans were created in the image and likeness of God. And over time, studying the Bible, I learned how God treats people of all kinds.

Not so long ago, a man asked me: "Did you know you were being bugged? And if he did, why did he call people?" I didn't know one hundred percent, but I was sure that sooner or later they would start listening to me. So why did I call? There are two reasons for this. The first is that I love God, and the second is that I love people. While researching the Bible, I saw how reliable, practical and relevant it is. Therefore, as soon as I learned such truths, I tried to tell them to people. And I called many people in Asha on the landline and told them what I had read in the Bible. If you had a landline phone, then it's highly likely that I called you too. So, I met different people: someone didn't need it, someone listened. But I still remember those who said "thank you". I remember there were those who said "thank you" even after one short conversation. And there are those with whom I still keep in touch and call from time to time. I called a man once, we talked, and I promised to call him back. But either I forgot, or I couldn't do it right away, I called him only six months later and heard a reproach from him: "Well, you ... I was waiting for your call." And I've still been calling him from time to time for several years now.

If I said something that could be called extremism, would he say "thank you" to me after every conversation? He considers himself Orthodox and has not changed his faith. We were discussing the Bible. And he's not the only one. There are no victims in the case file who I insulted, humiliated or otherwise hurt their feelings. Why? Because my God Jehovah teaches me to love people and even those who do not share my religious beliefs.

There is a saying: a man is what he eats. The idea that nutrition affects a person. The same is true of spiritual things. What a person reads, watches, what kind of entertainment he chooses — everything that fills his mind and heart affects his behavior. Jesus rightly noted: "For from within, out of the human heart, come evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, malice, deceit, lewdness, an envious eye, blasphemy, pride, madness" (Mark 7:21, 22). Your Honor, you have had the opportunity to see how I nourish my heart spiritually. My wife and I watched various videos on how to show love and forgiveness in a family. It should be noted that this is not curiosity on my part, but a conscious desire to imitate my God for the past 27 years. The Apostle Paul urges everyone: "Therefore imitate God as beloved children" (Ephesians 5:1).

I want to tell you how I came to God. The first moment in my life, when I still unconsciously came into contact with faith, was still in kindergarten. Before I was born, there was a tragedy in our family. My middle brother tragically died in a pioneer camp. And so, in kindergarten, they told me that tomorrow there will be a resurrection of the dead. Imagine how glad I was to tell my parents this news! But with this news, I only caused them pain... the next moment was already in my school years, I was about ten years old. I was walking home from school and started thinking about how short human life is: now I'm ten, then twenty, thirty, sixty… And that's it, life is practically lived. I burst into tears, and my parents had to calm me down. In my teenage years, I heard a story that there was such a book where in ancient times it was written that people would fly on iron birds, fight on iron horses, and an iron web would spread on pillars. In 1988, my brother bought a Bible — two thick books — the Old and the New Testament. I thought it was where the prophecies were supposed to be described. But, of course, I didn't see anything like that there, and I didn't even finish reading them. In 1995, a friend of our family suggested researching the Bible. And the abyss of God's wisdom has opened up for me!

Now, from the height of the time I have passed, I understand that Jehovah answered the questions that I was very worried about. I found out that the resurrection of the dead will really take place, and I will see and get to know my brother, see and hug my father again, see other relatives again, and there will be a lot of them. "Do not marvel at this: for the time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who did good will go out to the resurrection of life, and those who did evil to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28, 29). I learned that life, real life, will last not 70-80 years or even 100 years, but infinitely long. "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then the lame man will leap up like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break in the wilderness, and streams in the steppe" (Isaiah 35:5, 6). "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; neither weeping, nor crying, nor sickness will be no more it will be; for the former has passed away" (Revelation 21:4). "And they will build houses and live in them, and plant vineyards and eat their fruits. They will not build for another to live, they will not plant for another to eat; for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen ones will long use the work of their hands" (Isaiah 65:21, 22).

This will be the real life that God has planned, who cannot lie, whose name is Jehovah. And this name carries a deep meaning. Previously, names were given to someone or something because of characteristic personality traits or appearance. So, God gave himself the name Jehovah. According to many scientists, translated from Hebrew, this name means "he gives to become." He is ready to become what is needed at the moment.

Jehovah is the Russian version of the name of God. And it is well known to Russian culture. In St. Petersburg, in St. Isaac's Cathedral, the name of God is found in one of the paintings in the form of a tetragrammaton, four consonant letters of the Hebrew alphabet, which make up the name of God. Many writers of Russian culture knew well and often used the name of the God Jehovah in their works. For example: Alexander Pushkin "From a letter to Vigel": "What a pity that He was struck down by His anger with early thunders!"; Alexey Tolstoy "The Sinner": "He drove the enemy into utter fetters according to the mania of Jehovah"; Athanasius Fet, "Sabina"; Marina Tsvetaeva "Daniel"; Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin "Gentlemen Golovlevs". And in the Bible, this name is mentioned more than 7,000 times! Only the true God, who has no equal in heaven and on earth, is called by the name of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 4:39). Jehovah has unlimited power, only he is the Most High, there is no one above him (Psalm 83:18). He is Omnipotent. This means that there is no force that could prevent him from doing what he has in mind. He created everything: the universe and life on our planet Earth (Revelation 4:8, 11). Jehovah is the only one who has always existed and will exist forever (Psalm 90:2).

So what does the investigation and the prosecution want? For me to renounce God? From the heavenly Father, whose love and mercy I have known for myself? From the one who changed my life so much? Thanks to which I have the meaning of life and hope. In fact, the prosecution is suggesting that I become an ungrateful son. May this never happen to me! Your Honor, I am glad and proud that I have appeared before the court. Of course, I did not enjoy the searches, interrogations, invasion of privacy, accusations, all this just left a big wound on my heart and the heart of my beloved wife. However, right now a biblical prophecy is being fulfilled before your eyes! Mark 13:9 says: "They will deliver you up to the courts, and beat you in the synagogues, and they will put you before rulers and kings for Me, to testify before them."

And what should I testify about? About the coming of the Kingdom of God. Many Christians are just praying for him. The well-known prayer "Our Father": "Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth." At the trial, you learned that the Almighty God's name is Jehovah. We also learned that the Kingdom of God is a government headed by Jesus Christ, which will fulfill the original will of God, and the whole earth will turn into a wonderful garden that will be filled by one large human family. And they found out what God's will is in relation to the earth and people. After all, Jehovah's love manifests itself to people of all kinds.

Your Honor, my conscience is clear before God and people. I did not commit the crime of which I am accused. My goal is to serve the Supreme God: "Oh, man! You have been told what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love works of mercy, and to walk humbly before your God" (Micah 6:8). That's what I tried to do.

I ask you to attach this last word to the case file. Thank you so much for listening to me!

Summary of the case

Region:

Chelyabinsk region

Locality:

Asha

The number of the criminal case:

12102750030000012

Case initiated:

June 9, 2021

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

SU IC of the Russian Federation for the Chelyabinsk region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-116/2022

The Court of First Instance:

Ashinsky City Court of the Chelyabinsk region

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Ravil Nusratov