The last word of the defendant Sergei Afanasyev in Blagoveshchensk

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of the defendant Sergei Afanasyev in Blagoveshchensk

November 24, 2022

Amur region

From the courtroom

In his speech, the believer stressed that he was being tried for legitimate peaceful actions, not real crimes: "According to the law, nothing prevents Jehovah's Witnesses from freely professing their faith in Russia, since no formal permits are required for prayers."

Transcript of the court session in the Blagoveshchensk City Court of the Amur Region dated 11/24/2022 in the case 1-135/2022 (1-1408/2021) against Afanasyev Sergey Panteleimonovich and others. of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 and Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Afanasyev Sergey Panteleimonovich: Your Honor, at the beginning of my speech, I would like to thank all the participants in the process. I am grateful to the lawyers who tried to delve into our difficult case and provide us with qualified protection. I am grateful to the Public prosecutor, who, in carrying out his direct work, showed us respect. And most importantly, you pronounced the name of God correctly. I also thank the secretary. Your friendly attitude made me feel that even though I was being tried, that in itself did not mean that I was a criminal. Even the guards, checking me at the entrance, found encouraging words for me.

Of course, Your Honor, I am grateful to you that during this long time you have tried to delve deeply into the essence of our case, provided us with enough time to prepare and speak at court sessions, and satisfied our petitions. It was also nice to see that you sometimes joked and smiled with us.

And, of course, I am grateful to my God, Jehovah, who has always given me strength, courage and calmness to walk this path with dignity. I am very much supported by the thought expressed in the words from Hebrews 4:13: "Everything is naked and open before the eyes of the one to whom we give an account." My God was closely watching everything that was happening here, and He heard every word spoken, all the accusations against me. I am very glad that neither my deeds nor even what is in my heart are hidden from God. He knows I'm innocent. Therefore, no matter what I am accused of and no matter what labels they put on me, I have a clear conscience and feel God's approval. That's the main thing for me.

Your Honor, a lot depends on you right now. The process has come to an end, and you will need to make a balanced and fair decision — a decision on which my future life, as well as the life of my family, will depend. Therefore, I ask you, Your Honor, to listen to me carefully and with patience.

I believe that I am being accused of a crime that I did not commit. I was engaged in activities common to Christians, the right to which is guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation - the right to "profess any religion individually or jointly with other people," as well as "freely choose, have and disseminate religious beliefs and act in accordance with them." I have acted and am acting within the framework of the law of the Russian Federation.

Over the past 25 years, I have tried to live honestly, act fairly, and treat people kindly. The Word of God, the Bible, and the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ, teach us to show love, joy, peace, meekness, self-control, long-suffering and other qualities that promote good relationships with others. Isn't that what is required in our country and in society?

Jesus once said, "Every good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor a bad tree bear good fruit" (Matthew 7:17). Jesus meant that a good religion should make people kind. This means that it cannot be that a person remains kind and decent if he adheres to extremist religious views.

I'm on trial now. And for what? Whose life have I ruined? Who was harmed? I didn't see a single victim, injured. For one reason: there are none. I have committed no crime against God, against people, or against the state. On the other hand, I am well aware that I am being judged for my faith. If I hadn't been a Jehovah's Witness, I wouldn't be in the dock right now. Today, at this meeting, the prophecy of Jesus recorded in the Bible is being fulfilled. He told his followers, "They will put you on trial [...] and put you before rulers and kings because of Me, so that you will testify to them about Me" (Mark 13:9). I stand here before you today, Your Honor. I am A Jehovah's Witness. I consider myself a happy person. It is a great honor for me to be called a Jehovah's Witness.

When Jehovah's Witnesses came to us and unobtrusively offered my wife and me a Bible study, we thought: Do we need it? But later, as it turned out, this was exactly what we needed. We found the answers to our questions in the Bible. And studying it, we realized that what is written there is all true and everything is logical. And the Bible also contains tips for family happiness, which my wife and I needed so much. For example, it talks about how to play the role of husband and father. The advice from the Bible has taught me to be compassionate, patient, and open-minded. Through studying the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses, I realized that marriage is more than just a stamp on a passport; I realized how important it is to remain faithful to my wife. Bible advice on parenting also helped my wife and I raise law-abiding and decent people. Even at school, teachers set them up as an example in terms of academic performance and behavior. The eldest daughter and son had two fours in their certificates, and the youngest graduated from 11th grade with a gold medal. I also tried to be involved in school and class affairs. For this, he was awarded letters of thanks from the school.

I am grateful to Jehovah for sending Jehovah's Witnesses to my family in time. As I said above, in accordance with the words of Jesus, the good tree — the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses — bore good fruit: I became a good husband and a caring father. Moreover, all these qualities have affected my life in general, how I think and act, as well as how I treat people. I began to realize what the meaning of life is and how to be truly happy.

If you think about it, the more than 100-year history of Jehovah's Witnesses has proved the non-extremist nature of the views of followers of this religion. [...] Meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses operate freely in more than 230 countries around the world, and the number of active followers of this religion exceeds 8.5 million people.

There are about 40 volumes in this criminal case, compiled by an FSB investigator. Each of them contains 250 pages or more. And during the hearing of the case in court, my last name appeared only a few times. But the name of the true God Jehovah has been heard hundreds of times. The question arises: who is actually being judged?

All this suggests that I am being judged only because I know the name of God (Jehovah), use it and worship him the way he thinks is right. [...] I also consider it necessary to note that the current legislation does not impose on citizens the obligation to stop adhering to the same denomination as religious associations, in respect of which the court has adopted a legally binding decision on the liquidation and prohibition of activities in connection with the implementation of extremist activities.

So even the proven commonality of my religious beliefs with the confessional affiliation of the liquidated MRO cannot become a reason for my criminal prosecution. The same applies to the confession and dissemination of the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses in a way similar to the goals and objectives set out in the MRO charter. Therefore, what is happening today is similar to what happened to Daniel, the prophet of Jehovah, who is mentioned in the Bible.

One day, out of envy, some high-ranking officials wanted to accuse Daniel of at least something in order to deal with him. But, as the Bible says, "no excuse or error could be found, because ... no error or fault [against the king] was found in him. And these people said, "We will not find a pretext against Daniel unless we find it against him in the law of his God" (Daniel 6:4, 5).

The fact is that Daniel, according to his custom, knelt three times a day in his house in prayer to Jehovah. Knowing this, his opponents arranged everything so that a decree was issued according to which "if anyone makes a request to any god or person other than [the king] within thirty days, he must be thrown into a dungeon with lions" … But Daniel was uncompromising in his worship of God. People knew about his habit of praying to his God Jehovah every day. Moreover, these high-ranking officials were well aware of how seriously Daniel took worship. They were sure that he would follow his routine, even if it was forbidden by the law of the king.

During this trial, it became obvious that I was wrongfully accused of extremism only because I believe in God and worship him in accordance with his requirements set out in the Bible. Therefore, I believe that the facts in this criminal case, allegedly testifying to the commission of a crime, are adjusted so as to correspond to the charges previously brought against me, as it was in the case of Daniel. What does this mean?

As against Daniel, there is no excuse to find against me, unless you look for it in the law of my God. The law of my God encourages me to pray to him, read the Bible, discuss it with my co-religionists and tell others about God. By the way, according to the law, nothing prevents Jehovah's Witnesses from freely professing their faith in Russia, since no formal permits are required for prayers.

In this regard, I want to emphasize once again that you need to be very careful when accusing believers of extremism, otherwise you can easily become an extremist yourself, condemning people only because of their religious views. Moreover, when the apostles of Jesus were about to be condemned for what they preached, Gamaliel, one of the judges, said to the other members of the Jewish court: "I tell you, leave these people alone, for if this enterprise and this work are from men, then it will be destroyed, but if from God, you cannot destroy it. Otherwise, it may turn out that you are fighting with God himself" (Acts 5:38, 39).

Going back to Daniel's example, one can reflect: what would people think if he suddenly stopped praying? After all, his habit of praying was well known to everyone. Those who watched him might have decided that Daniel was afraid of people and that the king's decree was more important to him than the law of Jehovah. But he was also a Jehovah's witness and had to testify by his behavior that he believes in him and worships him.

As I said when I testified, as a servant of God, I am "submissive to the secular authorities" and willingly obey the laws of the country in which I live (Romans 13:1). However, when the laws of men contradict the laws of God, I take the same position as the apostles of Jesus, who courageously said when they were forbidden to preach: "One must obey God more than men" (Acts 5:29). By doing so, I do not incite anyone to rebellion or rebellion, on the contrary, I strive for peace with all people in order to lead "a quiet and serene life in all piety and purity" (1 Timothy 2:2).

Considering all of the above, I consider myself innocent, my conscience and motives are clear. I also consider the accusation made against me to be unfounded and illegal. In accordance with paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Article 6 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, criminal proceedings are intended to protect individuals from unlawful and unjustified accusations, convictions, and restrictions on their rights and freedoms. According to Part 2 of Article 6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the refusal to prosecute innocent people, their release from punishment, and the rehabilitation of anyone who has been unreasonably prosecuted meets the purpose of criminal proceedings. In this regard, I ask the respected court to take into account all the facts and pass an acquittal against me.

Summary of the case

Region:

Amur region

Locality:

Blagoveshchensk

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, he participated in the continuation of the activities of the liquidated organization by directly participating in religious events

Criminal case number:

11907100001000062

Case initiated:

October 21, 2019

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Amur region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1), 282.3 (1)

The number of the case in court:

1-135/2022 (1-1408/2021)

Court:

Blagoveshchensk City Court of the Amur region

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Daria Varkalevich