The last word of the defendant Marat Abdulgalimov in Makhachkala

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Marat Abdulgalimov in Makhachkala

November 8, 2022

Dagestan

From the courtroom

In his address to the court, the believer spoke about his peaceful beliefs: "I don't want to show hatred to people. An example for me is Jesus, who was against violence." He drew attention to the fact that "the prosecution provided evidence that it did not understand itself."

Transcript of the court session in the Kirovsky District Court of Makhachkala dated 08.11.2022 in the case 1-5/2022 (1-230/2021) on charges of Abdulgalimov Marat Nazimovich and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Articles 282.2 and 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Abdulgalimov Marat Nazimovich:

Dear court and dear participants in the process! Do you remember, just a week ago, Arsen Abdullayev mentioned in his debate that Minister of State Security Abakumov brought a note to Stalin on May 30, 1950? The note contained the following definitions: "hostile activity", "malicious anti-Soviet agitation", "active enemy work" and so on.

Surprisingly, 2,500 years ago, God's people heard similar accusations. The biblical book of Ezra tells about those events. Jehovah God prompted the Persian king to free the Jews, who had spent many decades in Babylonian captivity. And so the king issues a decree that they return to their homeland and rebuild "the temple of Jehovah, the God of Israel." In 537 BC, the first group of Jews returned to Jerusalem. Almost immediately, they set about rebuilding the temple, and by 536 BC, its foundation had already been laid.

Nevertheless, the builders faced serious opposition. "The neighboring nations began to do everything so that the Jews would give up and stop building." But if only that! Things got even worse when the opponents of Jehovah's people decided to take advantage of the change of power and tried to completely stop the work on the restoration of the temple. Moreover, they did it "under the guise of the law."

They wrote a complaint to the king of the Persian Empire, in which they presented everything as if the Jews were planning to rebel. They managed to trick the king, and he imposed a ban on the construction of the temple.

Other peoples living in the neighborhood and some Persian officials tried at all costs to put an end to the construction of the temple. But God had other plans. And if he wants something, it will definitely happen. In 515 BC, the construction was completed.

Something similar is happening today, when, under the guise of fighting extremism, criminal cases are opened against peaceful believers, accusing us of committing a crime against the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the state.

What do the Persian tsar, Joseph Stalin, the investigator and the prosecutor's office of the Republic of Dagestan have in common? All of them did not understand the information that was provided to them. The Persian king did not deal with the complaint that was presented to him, and imposed a ban on the restoration of the temple, without checking whether the Jews really wanted to rebel.

Joseph Stalin did not understand the note provided by Abakumov, whether Jehovah's Witnesses were actually conducting "hostile activities", "malicious anti-Soviet agitation", "active enemy work". Without verifying the authenticity of Abakumov's note, Stalin deprived 9793 people of their homes and property, and then they were sent to Siberia in terrible conditions.

The investigator and the prosecutor's office, having failed to understand the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. AKPI17-238 dated 04/20/2017, as well as the appeal ruling of the Supreme Court dated 07/17/2017, opened a criminal case against the four of us and are accused under Part 1 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3, as well as Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The investigator had the opportunity to terminate the criminal case against us when he received the expert opinion and collected all the evidence. It was just necessary to compare and check whether our actions include what is stated in the federal law "On Countering extremist activities," but, unfortunately, the investigator did not do this. In addition, we filed petitions for the termination of the criminal case, where we fully presented all the arguments for the termination of the case. But the investigator, refusing to satisfy our request, did not even consider it necessary to explain to us the reason for the refusal.

Surely you have all seen banners on billboards in different cities of Dagestan: "We are against extremism and terrorism." What is usually depicted on these banners? There are usually two comparative pictures, on one half explosions, fires, shooting and suffering of people, and on the other half peace, joy, unity and so on. This is how people imagine extremism. When there really is a manifestation of extremism and terrorism, the state must respond to it and stop it, protecting its citizens, and I am grateful for that. But is there something similar in our case? Of course not, in our case there is not even an injured party. I have not harmed anyone, especially the state. As a believer, extremism in all its manifestations is alien to me.

The Almighty also wants people to live in safety. That's the promise he makes in the Bible. In the 34th chapter of Ezekiel, in the 25th verse it is written: "... they will live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests." Although the future seems pretty bleak right now, God's Word gives hope. The Prophet Isaiah predicted that the day would come when everyone would live in complete safety. He texted: "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" (Isaiah 65:21, 22).

But does this hope have a solid foundation? After all, the word "hope" does not always mean something that will certainly come true. For example, in some countries it is often possible to hear such an expression: "hope dies last." In other words, people do not stop hoping, even when there is no reason to hope. However, the hope that the living God gives us is not like that. The Apostle Paul wrote: "Whoever believes in him [God] will not be disappointed" (Romans 10:11). The biblical prophecies that have already been fulfilled give us confidence that all other promises of Jehovah God will also be fulfilled.

During the course of the judicial investigation, I became convinced of the words recorded in Isaiah 54:17, which says: "Every tongue that will compete with you in court, you will accuse." This is clearly seen in the example of Maria Karpova. One of the articles imputed to Maria Karpova is the involvement of six prosecution witnesses. During the trial, it turned out that the prosecution witnesses did not confirm that Maria Karpova had involved them, on the contrary, she showed human qualities to these people, such as love, kindness, empathy and compassion.

One of the prosecution witnesses at the trial said that I was actively using a banned website. This evidence was also not confirmed in court. When examining the laptops, it turned out that there was no access to the banned site. The witness deliberately lied to the court in order to strengthen the accusation.

I don't want to hate people. An example for me is Jesus, who was against violence. He taught this to his students as well.

Let's think about this. More than five years have passed since the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 04/20/2017. During all this time, 1,851 searches were conducted, 252 sentences were passed, 27 fines were imposed, 134 believers were sentenced to probation, 84 were sentenced to a colony, 110 in custody, 16 under house arrest, a total of 665 accused. When we had an extension of the preventive measure in the Soviet Court, 200 people came to support us, and about 600 people came to the building of the Court of Cassation in Pyatigorsk.

I want to say that our friends who came to support us did not rebel, did not organize rallies, and never spoke negatively against the courts. And now our friends are near the court. They came to support us, not to rebel.

In Proverbs 22:1 it is written: "A good name (or, in other words, a good reputation) is better than a lot of wealth." Why can you say that? Because no amount of wealth can buy a good reputation. Jehovah's Witnesses have such a reputation. Unfortunately, the media and television publish false information about Jehovah's Witnesses, as if they take away apartments, houses, money, refuse treatment and do not treat their children and all other lies. It was possible to believe this information, but there is one "but". Jehovah's Witnesses live among people. Each of us has relatives, neighbors, work colleagues, classmates, classmates. They know where we live and in what conditions. There are cases when a person, having heard false information about Jehovah's Witnesses on television, said: "Yes, if I didn't know Jehovah's Witnesses personally, I would believe this information." Therefore, I can say with confidence that the media and television will not be able to tarnish the good reputation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

As evidence, the prosecution provided seven meetings of worship services. During the judicial investigation, all these meetings of the divine services were read in full. It was not recorded that I called for the overthrow of the constitutional order and the security of the state. There is no evidence that I have committed acts aimed at inciting hatred or enmity, as well as at humiliating the dignity of a person or group of persons on the grounds of gender, race, nationality, language, origin, attitude to religion.

Your Honor, the prosecution has provided evidence that it did not understand itself. The investigators failed to show the difference between a Management center, a local religious organization (MPO), a religious group and ordinary believers who, on the basis of Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, have the right to profess their religion. For me, being a Jehovah's Witness is not just a word, it is a way of my life.

Now you have a difficult task to figure out what the prosecution could not figure out. As a lawyer, you should be able to see the difference between a liquidated legal entity and ordinary believers. Therefore, I ask the court to treat us with an open mind.

At the end of my speech, I want to join the words of gratitude that have been and will be heard from my friends. Thanks to all the participants in the process for spending so much time and effort on this case. For the peaceful atmosphere in court, for respect for each other, for the fact that the court and other participants in the process did not violate my rights.

I also want to thank my friends for supporting me from the moment of my arrest to the present day. You are truly the friends mentioned in the Bible, in the Book of Proverbs, the 17th chapter, the 17th verse: "A true friend always loves, he is a brother you can rely on in trouble."

I ask the court to find me innocent and acquit me.

Summary of the case

Region:

Dagestan

Locality:

Makhachkala

What is suspected of:

According to the investigation, "they organized religious gatherings, so-called "meetings", during which they conducted with the participation of residents of the Republic of Dagestan a study of printed materials of the banned organization "Management Center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia""

Criminal case number:

11907820001000056

Case initiated:

May 27, 2019

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Dagestan

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.3 (1), 282.2 (1.1)

Case number in court:

1-5/2022 (1-230/2021)

Court:

Kirovsky District Court of Makhachkala

Judge:

Amirov Amir