The last word of the defendant Vitaly Omelchenko in Murmansk

 RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Vitaly Omelchenko in Murmansk

September 22, 2022

Murmansk region

From the courtroom

Speaking with the last word in court, the believer stressed that "undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and the non—recognition of authorities is definitely not about Jehovah's Witnesses... The preaching of Jehovah's Witnesses brings not only spiritual benefits to society, but also literally saves lives."

Transcript of the court session in the Oktyabrsky District Court of Murmansk dated 09/22/2022 in the case 1-11/2022 (1-83/2021) accusing Omelchenko Vitaly Nikolaevich of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Omelchenko Vitaly Nikolaevich: It was the first time I was at a trial where I was accused of a criminal offense. I have observed both positive and negative aspects. I would like to focus on some positive ones.

On the part of the operative A. S. Romanov and other FSB officers, I observed a human attitude. When they detained and took me to the Investigative Committee and to the temporary detention center, they did not use physical force. The investigators also respected my rights.

Your Honor, I once thought how hard your work is. Especially when I found out that you had 45 criminal cases at some point. It's necessary to delve into the circumstances, people's lives. My head would be swollen. How do you deal with all this? Thank you for trying to figure out my case as well. I am also pleased that you maintained a calm, respectful atmosphere during the court sessions. Tatyana Vladimirovna, thank you for keeping a human face. And to you, as to the previous secretary, I am very grateful that you took into account the feelings of my elderly co-religionists who had to be interrogated in court.

Vera Andreevna, your work is very important, as it gives the defendants the opportunity to defend their rights in subsequent instances. I am sure Roman Alexandrovich is pleased to work with you.

Pavel Alexandrovich, thank you for being there at the right moments. I felt safer that way. I associate you with a young lion ready to fight.

I will begin my last word with an episode in the life of a famous scientist. While under house arrest, he suffered for the rest of his life that he had renounced what was true. Today, no one doubts this truth. Who are we talking about? We are talking about Galileo Galilei, who was unfairly accused, persecuted, condemned, tortured and forced to renounce his views by the Roman Catholic Church. For what? With his research, Galileo confirmed the fallacy of the views of that time. At that time, it was believed that the Earth was the center of the universe and that the Sun revolved around our planet.

As for the persecution of me as a Jehovah's Witness, it has similar features. Judge for yourself, I am a Jehovah's Witness by conviction, I have been researching the Bible for 20 years now and I am convinced that it contains the truth that everyone should follow in their lives. The truth has changed my life so that it has become more meaningful, pure, kind, it has given me clear concepts of what is good and what is evil, wonderful hope for the future. Like Galileo Galilei, I want all people to know about it, including you, Your Honor, and everyone here, and become Christians like me, except without criminal prosecution and the label "extremist". And being absolutely convinced that I am not doing anything wrong against God, the state and people, I am not ashamed to look into the eyes of you, Your Honor, the public prosecutor and other people and I have nothing to repent of.

Throughout this whole process, I prayed a lot to my God to overcome everything with dignity. My dear wife and my worldwide brotherhood, children, caring family members who study the Bible also supported and prayed for me, and this number can reach 20 million people (although there are 8.6 million Jehovah's Witnesses themselves), since 240 countries and territories know about this trial. And I am very grateful that I have such real friends.

For the name of my God and my faith in him, it is an honor for me to pass this test. And I am determined to remain faithful to my God and my faith in him to the end. But the prosecution has a different assessment of my actions as a believer, and she had different expectations. I was expected to stop participating in the worship of my God Jehovah. You could see for yourself, Your Honor, that even the interrogations of witnesses from the defense and prosecution, including my wife, show that there was never any extremism in my actions, and in principle there cannot be, since it contradicts my faith. And given such a large number of investigators involved, it is no wonder that you can paint a very colorful picture of extremism against a simple believer, and even mixed with the obvious slander of a secret witness. Doesn't it seem strange to you, Your Honor, that one janitor with an 11th grade education is able to change the constitutional order of an entire country? Or is the constitutional order as fragile as a house of cards? Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin would have said his catch phrase to this: "Complete nonsense!"

In the transcript of the meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, held on December 11, 2018, on page 54, the President spoke in this way about the inclusion of legal entities of Jehovah's Witnesses in the list of organizations involved in extremism and terrorism. Yes, I remember the words of Fyodor Tyutchev, who was a diplomat for many years and worked abroad: "You can't understand Russia with your mind." Then the questions arise: are Jehovah's Witnesses really committing illegal activities? who gave the right to worship God the way they do, and who is the organizer anyway? How do Jehovah's Witnesses relate to the authorities? If they're not really doing anything wrong, then why are they being persecuted? In my last word, I would like to give answers to these questions.

Who would have thought today that Galileo Galilei's research is illegal activity? But then she was given exactly that look, although today all people understand that this man was telling the truth. After a long time, the Roman Catholic Church acquitted him.

And what can you say about my activities? I was doing God's service with my friends. As I said in my testimony, according to the Bible, his name is Jehovah. He is the Creator of everything that exists and rightfully deserves to be worshipped. Speaking of whom to worship, Jesus Christ said: "Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone" (Matthew 4:10). And just as parents expect respect, obedience and devotion from their children, so does he expect from all his creations, since he calls himself the Father of all creatures, and people and angels are children. Therefore, worship is the essence of my life. Giving up on this is like telling your parents: "You're nobody to me and I can't call you anything." This is unthinkable for me. I don't want to suffer for the rest of my life like Galileo Galilei, renouncing my faith.

Moreover, from what we learn about God from the Bible, as people say, it is a sin not to worship such a God. She describes him as someone who is the personification of love, wisdom, and devotion. He is the God of truth, the highest just judge, compassionate, ready to forgive, tell us which way is better to move through life, hates injustice, explains why there is so much suffering and evil in life, why he allows it so far and how he will eliminate it.

Operative A. S. Romanov, when he testified, noted that we call our meetings meetings. I want to clarify that the Bible calls meetings of believers meetings, not us. Who gave us the right to meet with our co-religionists? In the Synodal translation of the Bible, in a Letter to the Hebrews, the 10th chapter, the 24th and 25th verses it is written: "Let us be attentive to each other, encouraging love and good deeds; let us not leave our assembly, as is the custom of some." Since this is written in the Bible, it means that God himself says that we should not leave our assembly, because we worship him and learn good things at it — to show true love for God, our neighbors and do good deeds, and not engage in extremism. Based on the recordings of the meetings of believers that we listened to here, you could see for yourself.

There were also questions about the sermon at the court session. So, as for preaching faith and helping people believe in Jehovah God. Who gave this right and even ordered to do it? In the Bible, in the book of Amos, in the 3rd chapter, the 8th verse, it says: "The lion began to roar, "who won't shudder? The Lord God said, "Who will not prophesy?" Using this example, the prophet described the natural reaction of people to the roar of a lion. Wouldn't that be our reaction if a lion came in here and roared?

Then the prophet Amos drew attention to another natural reaction. If Jehovah God, the ruler of the entire universe, said that it is necessary to convey some message to people and it is vital, how not to obey? Now, it's the same with us Jehovah's Witnesses. Jesus Christ, before ascending to heaven, said in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 18 to 20, what important activities Christians should be engaged in: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth: go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father (i.e. God) and the Son (i.e. Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world." What conclusion can be drawn, Your Honor? Jesus Christ received great power from Jehovah God. Jesus, in turn, legally commanded his followers to preach and teach people among all nations to observe everything he taught when he lived on earth.

Specialist Astakhova confirmed that we carry out preaching, as it was understood by the first Christians, the apostles. Jesus also assured that he would be with his followers in this work until today. And we, Jehovah's Witnesses, cannot disobey God and his Son by stopping preaching. Can all this be considered extremism? Isn't that the exact opposite of him? What Jesus commanded to teach has nothing to do with extremism at all. He taught goodness and helped people both spiritually and in practice.

Our preaching activity saved someone from the noose, because at the moment when the Witnesses called the apartment to talk about God, the man wanted to hang himself, but when he heard the bell, he opened the door and his intention to leave his life was thwarted.

In one case, while preaching at home, we noticed that the apartment door was ajar. We called the owners, but no one answered. Pushing open the door, we saw an elderly woman lying on the floor, covered with a blanket on her naked body, and food was scattered around. We went to the precinct officer on Kirova Street and informed him about the incident. He praised us for doing our civic duty. This woman was given help.

This is the attitude towards people, Your Honor, taught by my religion and my faith. I still remain the same. I am sure you will agree that this is not a sign of extremism, but rather concern for the welfare of people, regardless of who they are, because all these people were not Jehovah's Witnesses. And using these examples, you can see that the preaching of Jehovah's Witnesses brings not only spiritual benefits to society, but also literally saves lives.

And now multiply this, Your Honor, by the number of Jehovah's Witnesses throughout Russia and around the world. It turns out that Jehovah's Witnesses, performing their service to God, in one way or another provided literal assistance to 175 thousand to 8.6 million people and saved many of their lives. Is it typical for extremists to care about the welfare of people? It can be seen that Jehovah's Witnesses benefit society and the state.

To sum up, who organized all this spiritual activity? Here they are two great organizers — Jehovah God and his son, Jesus Christ. Would anyone dare to accuse and judge them? The Bible describes a similar situation when the members of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem in the first century gathered to judge the first Christians for their worship and preaching activities in order to stop it. And so an authoritative judge named Gamaliel stood up among them and told them the following. This is recorded in the book of Acts, in the 5th chapter, 38th and 39th verses: "And now, I say to you, leave these people alone and leave them: for if this enterprise and this work are from men, then it will be destroyed, but if from God, then you will not you can destroy it; take care that you do not turn out to be God-defying." Yes, this judge expressed a thought-provoking thought. By trying to obstruct the work that God has commanded to be done, people are opposing the Creator himself.

Can we take a little look at history and see if those who still did not heed Judge Gamaliel's advice were successful, because Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted not only in Russia, but also in other countries? I want to briefly touch on two examples: Hitler's Germany and the Soviet Union. Both sides persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses.

Here is how Adolf Hitler, on October 7, 1934, in the office of Reich Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick in Berlin, clenched his fists and expressed his attitude towards Jehovah's Witnesses: "These geeks will be exterminated in Germany!" Why was he enraged by this group of people? Because even at the cost of freedom and life, they refused to support the Nazi regime, including taking up arms (what Hitler wanted to force Witnesses to is just spelled out in the law of the Russian Federation on extremism). Here in court, Your Honor, you have heard one such example of the young Johanna Hartman, who refused to pronounce "Heil Hitler", and painted a swastika with a purple triangle — this was the distinctive sign of Jehovah's Witnesses in concentration camps. And that, Your Honor, was not an empty threat. Widespread arrests began. According to a confidential notice from the Prussian Secret Police dated June 24, 1936, a "special Gestapo team" was formed to deal with Witnesses. After careful preparation, the Gestapo launched a campaign to detain all Jehovah's Witnesses, as well as anyone suspected of belonging to them. The entire police participated in the operation, ignoring the criminals.

According to reports, 6,262 German Witnesses were eventually arrested. Carl Wittig, a former German civil servant who himself visited several concentration camps, later wrote: "No other group of prisoners ... was subjected to such sadism by the SS as Bible Researchers (as Jehovah's Witnesses used to be called). That sadism was characterized by a series of endless physical and mental tortures that cannot be described in any language of the world."

What did it lead to? Christine King, in her book published in 1982, wrote: "The government failed to deal only with Witnesses [unlike other religious groups]." Hitler vowed to exterminate them, and hundreds were killed. Nevertheless, King writes: "Their activities [i.e. preaching about the Kingdom of God] continued, and in May 1945, when National Socialism was gone, the Jehovah's Witness movement still existed." She also notes: "There were no compromises" ("The Nazi State and the New Religions: Five Case Studies in Non-Conformity"). Why did Hitler, who had at his disposal a well—equipped army, an excellently trained police force and numerous death camps, fail to fulfill his threat to destroy this relatively small and unarmed group of the most ordinary people? Why have other States failed to put an end to their activities? Why did not a few, but the vast majority of Jehovah's Witnesses remain steadfast in the face of the most severe persecution? We find the answer in the words of Judge Gamaliel, which I quoted above. This work is from God, so people will never be able to destroy it.

I will briefly touch on the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Soviet Union. A widespread struggle was also launched against them. For example, in April 1951, the Ministry of State Security, with Stalin's approval, organized a secret operation "North". That's her goal — to "evict forever to Siberia." And in freight wagons intended for the transportation of livestock, about 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were taken out in unsanitary conditions.

In order to prevent communication between the local population and Witnesses who were due to arrive soon, the authorities spread a rumor that cannibals were traveling to Siberia. When one group of Witnesses arrived, they had to wait several days for them to be accommodated in local villages. Therefore, they set up a parking lot on the banks of the frozen Chulym River. Despite the fact that it was the middle of April, there was still a lot of snow. To keep warm, the Witnesses who arrived lit a large bonfire, sang songs, prayed and told stories that happened along the way. To their surprise, none of the locals invited them. On the contrary, the villagers locked all the windows and doors. On the third day, the bravest of the locals, armed with axes, came up and started a conversation. At first, they really thought that cannibals had arrived, but soon found out that this was not true.

What has led to such persecution and denigration of the good name of these believers? The authorities rehabilitated them as victims of political repression. She admitted that it was a crime against the people. And many people in the areas where Jehovah's Witnesses were sent got acquainted with the Bible, Jehovah's God, through preaching and became Jehovah's Witnesses themselves. So at the time of the ban by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the number of believers was 175,000 in Russia alone. And in this case, it can be seen that Judge Gamaliel was right. It is impossible to destroy Jehovah's Witnesses. And why? This is a matter from God.

I want to explain, Your Honor, how do I and other Jehovah's Witnesses feel about the authorities, even if they persecute them?

First, respect for authority is God's requirement. Romans 13:1, 2 says: "Let every soul [i.e., any person] be submissive to the highest [i.e., state] authorities… Therefore, he who opposes authority opposes God's establishment; and those who resist will bring condemnation upon themselves." As can be seen from these words, my God Jehovah demands that I obey the state authorities, and if I resist the authorities, I am, in fact, against him. Since I became a Jehovah's Witness, I have been submitting to authority because I am afraid of upsetting my God. What is my submission expressed in? Romans 13:7 goes on to say, "So give to all what is due to them: to whom tax is tax, to whom duty is duty, to whom respect is respect, to whom honor is honor."

How do I show that I obey the authorities in matters of paying taxes, duties, honor and respect? I purposefully applied for jobs where the employer pays taxes. And at my job in a state institution, deductions are also made to the state treasury. I also showed respect for the authorities by always coming to interrogations on the investigator's call, I always come to register with the punishment service. When fire brigades came to our orphanage for exercises, at the request of the head teacher, I helped them successfully conduct their rescue training.

Also, Your Honor, you know how stupidity can get attached to children, especially when they are in a group of other children. When my wife and I noticed that our children spoke disrespectfully about police officers or teachers, we corrected them by showing an example of proper treatment. For example, not "cop", but "Mr. policeman"; the class teacher is not a fraternal "Tamarka", but "Tamara Ivanovna". I attended all the parent-teacher meetings, although I was not their father, even the homeroom teacher praised me for it. Isn't it nice for the authorities to see such an attitude? I'm sure it's nice. And these actions are absolutely correct. What does such obedience to God in relation to authority contribute to? It is safe to say that it is not the destruction of the foundations of the constitutional order, but their maintenance.

Secondly, Jesus Christ strongly condemned violent actions against state power. When its representatives came to take Jesus into custody, the apostle Peter decided to protect him and, taking a sword, cut off one of the newcomers' ear. To which Jesus said to him, "Put away the sword, because all who take the sword will perish by the sword." Therefore, Jehovah's Witnesses never commit violent acts, but even in their hearts they do not harbor such ideas. This is unthinkable for us, as it will cause God's disapproval.

Thirdly, if we opposed the government, we would take the side of the enemy and enemy of God and humanity — the evil angel, who has two names describing his essence — Satan and the Devil. Satan means the adversary, and the Devil means the slanderer. This vividly shows how he acts. Jesus Christ clearly showed who is responsible for the evil reigning in human society, calling Satan "the ruler of this world." His influence can be compared to that of a criminal authority. Remaining in the shadows, he exerts a corrupting influence on people, sowing slander and cultivating a spirit of confrontation, disrespect and hatred in people. The manifestation of such a spirit for me, as for any other Jehovah's Witness, is tantamount to betrayal of my God. And friendship with Jehovah God is the most valuable thing a person can have. And I don't want to lose her in any way.

The only exception to obeying the demands of the authorities is when they try to forbid us to do what God requires of us. In this case, the authorities exceed their authority. And we cannot disobey God. And there is a biblical precedent for this. When Christians were strictly forbidden to preach by the Supreme Court in the first century, the apostles said: "We must obey God first of all, and not people" (Acts 5:29, Modern translation).

When Jehovah sees my obedience to his demand to respect authority, he feels the same way that an ordinary father feels when children show obedience to his demands. I'm sure, Your Honor, if you have children, then when they obey your demands, you feel the same way. Therefore, undermining the foundations of the constitutional order and non—recognition of government bodies is definitely not about Jehovah's Witnesses.

And there is one last question. If Jehovah's Witnesses are not really doing anything wrong, then why are they being persecuted? If we rely on what is said in our society, then we can come to the following conclusions.

On the one hand, people say: "There is no smoke without fire!" If we apply these words to us, Jehovah's Witnesses, then we can conclude that there is extremism. Someone will say: "It's not by chance that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation banned their legal entities."

On the other hand, you can also hear this phrase: "If someone is being scolded very much, then there is something in it and you need to listen." This phrase also appeared for a reason. After all, when did you love those who revealed the truth, especially if it exposed someone? To deal with such people, the latter blackened their name.

On the third hand, people also say: "The law is like a drawbar, where it turned, it went there." And you can still hear about cases where the law is being abused. To prove this, Your Honor, I would like to draw attention to the fact that even the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has clarified this issue. Why was it necessary? The Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights is sounding the alarm in connection with the unlawful persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by law enforcement agencies. He has repeatedly raised this issue when meeting with the president. As a result, the President has already given instructions on this issue at least twice. And after the last time, the case somehow got off the ground - a clarifying Resolution was issued.

The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses was foretold in the Bible by Jesus Christ himself. In the Gospel of John, in chapter 15, verse 20, he said (in the translation of the Bible edited by Kulakov): "If I was persecuted, then you will also be persecuted." After all, it's no secret that Jesus Christ was sentenced to death by the judges of that time. Was there a reason for this? This is what the ruler of that time, who judged him in front of the crowd demanding the execution of Jesus (this is recorded in John 19:4), said: "Here He is, I bring Him to you so that you know that I find no fault in Him." As can be seen, there were no grounds not only for the death penalty, but for criminal prosecution in general. And here's the paradox — the one who was executed is now recognized by almost the whole world. Someone elevated him to the rank of god, although he is not. Someone considers him a prophet. And someone is just a sage. It turns out that the whole world recognizes that the execution was unfair. But the persecution was initiated by the religious leaders of that time, because Jesus rebuked them with his words and deeds. There was no justified persecution then, and there is none now.

I'll give you a short example. When the operative Romanov took me to the detention center, he introduced me to the police of the detention center as follows: "A polite, intelligent man." Yes, you could see and hear it yourself: not a single obscene word, not a single case of hatred or violence, not a single call that incites discord. Then, in his testimony given by him at the preliminary investigation, I read that he says that there was extremism in my actions in this and that. And I was puzzled, to be honest. I thought: "Is this the right person?" And when, testifying here in court, he confirmed that there was no hostility, no calls for this, no discord, I was pleased that this man's conscience was speaking.

If you think about it, Your Honor, how does such harassment by law enforcement agencies affect the reputation of the government, does it raise its authority or, conversely, humiliate it? Is any worthwhile goal being achieved by the authorities? Do people feel safer? When searches were conducted in several apartments in Murmansk in December 2019 — this criminal case was initiated — then on the social network, the Murmansk group on VKontakte, you could read such remarks from citizens: "It would be better if they broke into drug addicts like that", "Well, that's it! All the thieves, drug addicts and murderers are caught. We can live in peace."

When I talked to one teacher at work about this criminal prosecution, he noted: "Everyone here speaks well of you. If the guys find out about this situation, they will be shocked." Why is that? The guys at the orphanage know me the same way you saw me here and the way you heard me on recordings and live. They know that I don't swear, I don't conflict with anyone, they see that I pray to myself before eating. I help them fix furniture, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and teach them how to repair plumbing. Sometimes I tell them not to swear. They apologize to me. Sometimes I try to calm them down if they behave rudely and violate the established order in the orphanage. When I'm on vacation, they bother the director, asking when I'm going to work. And I am concerned about the following, Your Honor, if justice is not restored to me, a believer, how will it adversely affect these children, among others? After learning that I have been convicted, will it encourage these children to become better? Unlikely. Their respect for power is already very low, and here it will get even worse. They will conclude that it is better to be antisocial than good, otherwise they will definitely be imprisoned. It seems that this persecution does not strengthen the right attitude to power, but, on the contrary, undermines it. Should this be the purpose of the extremism law? I'm sure not.

And what about those who have been through convictions and imprisonment? Have they stopped worshipping Jehovah God? No. Their faith has become even stronger, and their friendship with God has become even stronger. As you have seen, Your Honor, my attitude is the same. As I believed in my God, so I will continue to believe. As I worshipped him, so I will worship him. As I have preached, so I will continue to preach. Free or in prison, my worship of Jehovah will not stop. And as my God has strengthened me before, so he will continue to do so.

Then there remains one more important question: "Why does Jehovah God allow the persecution of his servants?" In short, Your Honor, we, Jehovah's Witnesses, are here for you, for the sake of prosecutors, investigators and other authorities. One of our colleagues, who used to be a judge, noted that when she held this position, she could not be found at home. She only started studying the Bible when she retired.

There was still plenty of time for this back then, but now people have much less time to study the Bible. Therefore, Jehovah God, allowing the persecution of his servants, himself takes a step towards you, so that at least here in court you can find out about him. Despite all the worries associated with this persecution, I am sincerely glad that Jehovah gave me the opportunity to participate with him in this matter.

Your Honor! I ask you to make the only correct and fair decision — to find me innocent, acquit and restore my good name, recognizing my right to rehabilitation! Thank you for your attention, Your Honor.

Summary of the case 

Region:

Murmansk region

Locality:

Murmansk

What is suspected:

"He organized the activities of a local religious organization in residential premises, as well as in other places, by holding meetings ... personally preaching sermons involving new people, as well as other organizational actions"

Criminal case number:

11902470002000277

Case initiated:

December 23, 2019

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

From the SU IC of Russia in the Murmansk region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-11/2022 (1-83/2021)

Court:

Oktyabrsky District Court of Murmansk

Judge of the Court of first instance:

Roman Girich