The last word of the defendant Vladimir Maladyka in Sevastopol

 CRIMEA 

The last word of the defendant Vladimir Maladyka in Sevastopol

September 27, 2022

Crimea

From the courtroom

In his appeal to the court, the accused recalled that the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited. Nevertheless, he had to defend his right to worship his God in court for a year and a half.

Transcript of the court session in the Nakhimovsky District Court of Sevastopol dated 09/27/2022 in the case 1-13/2022 on charges of Maladyka Vladimir Ivanovich of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Ivanovich Maladyka: In the case materials, I did not find evidence that ten people who were the founders of a legal entity before April 2017, after the court's decision to ban the activities of the MHRO (a local Christian religious organization. — Ed.) of the city of Sevastopol, gathered together (namely 10 people who are the founders) and solved any organizational issues. There is no evidence that at the same time they kept a record and voted for any decisions. Such information was not provided to the court.

Also, the prosecution did not provide evidence indicating that Maladyka, Sakada and Zhukov conspire, forcibly involve someone, and also distribute responsibilities: who should do what, including the continuation of the activities of the Moscow Art Institute. Not a single witness for the prosecution provided such information relating to the time after 2017 — after the liquidation of the MHRO and up to today. There were no such meetings. And the prosecution cannot provide evidence. I can explain why. These meetings had to be held as necessary, and there was no need to discuss legal and business issues after the ban of the legal entity. This is recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture held on February 26, 2015. It is also clear from the minutes that no biblical texts were discussed at this meeting and no songs were sung.

But there were other meetings — religious services, which are different from the meetings of the Moscow Art Theater. I would like to note that for all the 25 years that I have been a Jehovah's Witness, divine services have been held consistently and regularly, regardless of my status. Similarly, in the 1st century AD, Christians, following the teachings of Jesus Christ, gathered for joint divine services, which was agreed by the prosecutor D. I. Shevchenko.

Hebrews 10:24-25 says: "Let us be attentive to one another, encouraging love and good deeds; let us not leave our assembly, as is the custom of some; but let us exhort one another, the more you see the approach of that day." At such meetings, everyone can explore deep topics in order to better understand the Bible.

Dear Court, you have seen for yourself that this is a generally accepted form of religion, including participation in divine services, as well as offering prayers, listening to sermons, discussing spiritual issues and biblical texts and performing religious songs together.

I would like to emphasize that by the decision of the Supreme Court, the former founders of the Moscow Art Theater are not prohibited from professing their religion, attending divine services, either alone or with a group of co-religionists.

The Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on October 28, 2021 amended and amended the resolution on what is considered extremist activity. In the new formulation, individual or joint practice of religion is no longer considered as participation in the activities of a prohibited organization, and my worship of God is imputed to me as a grave crime.

The prosecutor provided confirmation as an accusation that the MHRO was registered with the Ministry of Justice. Until 2017, it was officially in force, according to the law of the Russian Federation. The decision of the general meeting of the Ministry of Agriculture had a legitimate basis, and there are other points in the protocol, without which the re-registration of the religious community was impossible.

The divine services that we saw on the videos are blamed on me as a continuation of the activities of the Moscow Art Theater. In fact, they are the activities of a religious group, not the MHRO. As we saw, there were a lot more than ten people present, including not only adults. Biblical texts were discussed at the service, no one voted or kept a record of this service.

Your Honor, it is difficult for me to find the right laws that can protect me, so I ask you to carefully understand, using your competence and professionalism.

I believe that I am being accused of a crime that I did not commit. I am being judged for my faith and worship of Jehovah God.

I am very annoyed that the investigative authorities are passing off peaceful religious activities as criminal. They ignore the fact that the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses itself is not prohibited and has its own canonical structure, which has nothing to do with the activities of a legal entity. Thus, the investigative authorities interfere with the legitimate right to freedom of religion, which is a gross violation of the norms of national and international law. Articles 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Articles 3, 5, 9 and 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, art. 7, 9, 18, 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. If we consider it from a legal point of view, I used my right guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, which allows me to freely practice my religion.

The charge that is being brought against me and interpreted as a particularly serious crime is completely untrue. I continue to claim that I am being judged for my religious beliefs, for my faith, which teaches me that it is wrong to harm society and the state. I am judged for encouraging people to love each other, avoid any violence, and strengthen family and kinship relationships. These are the topics we discussed at our meetings with our co-religionists.

As it is written, "what is true, what is honest, what is just, what is pure, what is kind, what is glorious, what is only virtue and praise, think about it" (Philippians 4:8). They attributed to me that by doing this I was undermining the foundations of the state and the constitutional order. I have never engaged and will not engage in extremism, participate in any violence or incite it. I had no purpose to commit a crime, it is alien to my character. In addition, the Bible says: "The Lord tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and those who love violence" (Psalm 11:5).

Satisfying one's spiritual needs and talking about Christian beliefs with others cannot be a crime. My life as a whole, as well as the actions that I am accused of, are exclusively peaceful.

Considering this case, I ask the court to pay attention to the fact that there are no facts of extremism in this case, there are no victims, but only assumptions are put forward.

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not prohibit the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which means that it did not forbid me and my friends to discuss biblical issues and participate in divine services.

I had no intention of committing the actions listed in paragraph 1 of Article 1 of Federal Law No. 114 dated 07/25/2002 "On Countering Extremist Activities", which provides an exhaustive list of actions. None of them apply to me. There is no direct intent, there are no active actions, there are no socially dangerous acts, there is no humiliation of human dignity, there are no facts that any of my actions have caused harm, damage, suffering to others. The investigating authorities did not consider it necessary to describe the actions of an organizational nature. There is nothing like that. Therefore, the accusation that I am being charged with is completely untrue.

After the prohibition of the MHRO of Jehovah's Witnesses in Sevastopol and the confiscation of religious buildings, worship services are held in private homes, which is not prohibited by law, but on the contrary, is allowed by Articles 28 and 31 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. I had no need to set as my goal the continuation and organization of any activity prohibited by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The services took place when I was in jail, and they are taking place now while the court proceedings are underway. And there's no way I can cancel or arrange it. From this it can be seen that I did not organize anything.

Worship is a part of the worship of God. There are no calls for extremist actions on them. At these services, everyone satisfied their spiritual needs, both before and after the confiscation of the religious building.

I want to explain the above with the help of an example of the cook's profession. The cook loves to cook. The cook cooked at home, cooked with friends, at weddings, parties and on various holidays. Cooking was his favorite thing. Friends give advice to open your own restaurant or cafe. The cook did just that. The competitors didn't like it. And various services began to come, firefighters, sanitary inspection, tax and so on. The legal entity was closed, and the cafe was closed. What do you think, will the cook give up his favorite business or will he continue to cook at home and with friends? He also cooks according to the same recipes, from the same products, except only for the place — instead of a cafe, he cooks at home or with friends, as before registration. Will anyone say that he is reviving the activities of a cafe or a legal entity? It would be wrong to attribute this to him, since the registration of a legal entity and the type of activity were tied to a specific place that was banned. Therefore, this cook did not break the law. And there are no people who would complain.

Thus, I am a kind, decent person who adheres to the views of kindness and respect for the individual. I show respect for the authorities in accordance with the biblical saying: "Let every soul be subject to higher authorities; for there is no authority not from God, the existing authorities are established from God" (Romans 13:1).

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not ban the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which means that it did not forbid me and my friends to discuss biblical issues. And no legal entity is required for such conversations.

I thank my God Jehovah for giving me the great honor and trusting me to represent his interests in court!

During the trial, I noticed that the prosecutor carefully prepared for the hearings, showing his professionalism.

I am very grateful to the lawyers Ilya Valeryevich, Boris Vladimirovich and Sergey Alexandrovich for their high-quality professional assistance and protection! Your diligence has given us confidence. You built your defense in good faith, carefully delving into a new area of legislation and law enforcement for you, and carefully examined every sheet of our multi-volume case. You worked as a team. Thank you very much!

I also want to thank Judge Olga Alexandrovna for listening to us attentively, allowing the hearings to be open, and our relatives could attend them, who supported us throughout the process.

Dear court, I ask you to acquit me and restore my good name!

Summary of the case

Region:

Crimea

Locality:

Sevastopol

What is suspected of:

According to the investigation, "they conducted liturgical meetings, familiarizing people with the Holy Scriptures, performing acts of mercy spreading information in society concerning scientific, social, historical topics" (from the decree on bringing as an accused)

Criminal case number:

12007350001670043

Case initiated:

October 1, 2020

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

The Federal Security Service of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-13/2022 (1-228/2021)

Court:

Nakhimovsky District Court of Sevastopol

Judge:

Olga Berdnikova.