The last word of The defendant Andrey Okhapkin in Kineshma

 RUSSIA 

 

The last word of The defendant Andrey Okhapkin in Kineshma

August 13, 2024

Ivanovo region

Addressing the court, the believer reminded the court of Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and asked: "How do I exercise my constitutional right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses so that the prosecution does not have claims against me?"

Transcript of the court session in the Kineshma city Court of the Ivanovo region dated 08/13/2024 in the case 1-10/2024 (1-66/2023; 1-459/2022) on the accusation of Andrei Borisovich Okhapkin of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Okhapkin Andrey Borisovich:

So the trial is coming to an end — I called it "28 or 282?". In principle, I liked the process. In a calm and respectful atmosphere, we discussed several episodes from my life. The prosecution looks at these episodes through the prism of Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, although there is nothing in them except the exercise of the right provided for in Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

During the trial, I tried to give a kind of tour of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. We attended a worship service, attended a Bible study, listened to me preach, watched videos, and read publications. I think that after this tour it is possible to give an objective assessment to Jehovah's Witnesses. And the assessment is as follows: Jehovah's Witnesses and extremism are incompatible concepts due to the principles by which they live. These are my principles of life. Exactly:

To fulfill one of the main commandments: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-40). Neighbors are those who are nearby, people with whom we intersect in life, and it does not matter what nationality, religion or social status they are.

To be impartial, imitating God in this: "God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he who fears Him and does what is right is pleasing to Him" (Acts 10:34, 35).

To overcome evil with good: "Do not reward evil for evil to anyone, but take care of the good before all people. ... be at peace with all people. Don't avenge yourself … Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17-21).

To be obedient to the state authorities: "Let every soul be submissive to higher authorities; for there is no authority not from God, but the existing authorities are established from God. Therefore, he who opposes authority opposes God's establishment; and those who resist will bring condemnation upon themselves.… And therefore it is necessary to obey not only out of fear of punishment, but also out of conscience… So give everyone their due: to whom to give, to give; to whom to pay, to pay; to whom fear, fear; to whom honor, honor" (Romans 13:1-7).

"Like God, so are his worshippers." For example, in ancient Assyria, the gods were bloodthirsty. As a result, Assyria was famous for its extreme cruelty. The Assyrians were proud of their atrocities and described them in every detail. In Nahum's prophecy, Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, is deservedly called the "den of lions" and the "city shedding blood" (Nahum 2:11, 12; 3:1). While researching the physical evidence, we watched a film based on real events, when Jehovah's prophet Jonah announced God's verdict on the destruction of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, for its bloodthirstiness.

Jehovah condemned the cruel Assyrians. My God does not demand violence and blood, but love, mercy, peacefulness and kindness to all people regardless of their nationality, religion and social status. Also, my God demands respect for the authorities. What kind of extremism can we talk about?!

Jehovah created the universe and our earthly home with love, wisdom and great power. He is the source of life and all good and perfect gifts. Therefore, Jehovah shows love to all people. For example, he gives sunlight, rains, trees, plants and flowers to all mankind. But most importantly, everyone has the opportunity to live forever thanks to the ransom. Jesus Christ said, "For God so loved the world [mankind] that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). If God shows love to everyone, even those who deny his existence, then his servants should show love and respect to all people, regardless of their faith, origin and beliefs. Jesus also called for imitating Jehovah in love: "I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who offend you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your heavenly Father; for He commands his sun to rise over the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:44, 45).

Returning to my criminal case, I would like to remind you that the ECHR Ruling on the case "MRO [Jehovah's Witnesses] Taganrog and Others against Russia" dated June 07, 2022 is attached to the case materials. In the operative part, the ECHR ruled that the State should take "all necessary measures to end the criminal prosecution of Jehovah's Witnesses and release Jehovah's Witnesses in custody."

In general, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation separates legal and illegal actions to achieve any goal. For example, a person wants to feed his family — this is the goal. He can rob a bank. This is an illegal action. But a person can officially get a job and receive a salary. This is a legitimate action. The principle of legal certainty clearly distinguishes everything.

And what about my case? The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not prohibit the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. I still have the right to use Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses, which I did during the period attributed to me. That is, I do not need to resort to illegal actions in order to practice my religion. Neither she nor the ways of her confession are prohibited by Russian law or the court. However, the prosecution deprives me of the right to use Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and calls my lawful actions under this article illegal, referring to Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The question arises: how do I exercise my constitutional right to profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses so that the prosecution does not have claims against me? I can assume that she will offer to practice my religion by locking herself in her apartment, not discussing her beliefs with anyone and not meeting with her co-religionists. However, I have never found a rule of law that would fix a restrictive interpretation of article 28 of the Constitution: if it provides for the opportunity to practice religion both individually and jointly with others, then I have the right to gather with my co-religionists for joint worship and discuss the Bible.

Contrary to the provisions of current legislation and the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court, the prosecution is not ready to recognize my actions as a confession of my religion. The only reason is that the services were organized and in accordance with a certain order

At the same time, the prosecution bypasses the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation "On judicial practice in criminal cases of extremist crimes", while these explanations are of great importance for the present case, since they shed light on what actually constitutes the corpus delicti provided for in part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, according to these clarifications, "the organization of the activities of ... a religious association, in respect of which the court adopted and entered into force a decision on the liquidation or prohibition of activities in connection with the implementation of extremist activities (Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), should be understood as organizational actions aimed at continuing or resuming illegal activities activities of a prohibited organization" (paragraph 20). Thus, in this case, the primary importance is not organized activity as such, but the presence of signs of illegality in this activity.

According to the degree of public danger, the crime that I am charged with is serious. But the degree of public danger of my actions tends to zero: there is not a single victim in the case; none of the residents of the city of Kineshma or the Ivanovo region has ceased to feel safe because of my religious beliefs.

And what about the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation? Article 17 of the Code of Criminal Procedure states that "a judge, prosecutor, investigator assess evidence according to their inner conviction based on the totality of evidence available in a criminal case, guided by the law and conscience." It is amazing how God's gifts to people are reflected in this article: freedom of will and conscience. Yes, a person can have their own inner beliefs and act in accordance with them. God does not force anyone to think and act in one way or another. But everyone should understand that free will entails responsibility. And first of all, responsibility to the Creator.

In order for a person to make the right decisions, God gave him a conscience. It is an inner awareness or feeling of what is right and what is wrong; conscience justifies or accuses, that is, judges. Conscience is trained under the influence of thoughts and actions, as well as the beliefs that a person develops, and the rules that he adopts, acquiring knowledge and life experience.

One example shows how different people can react to the same event. On March 16, 1968, two men participated in an operation that was later called a shameful war crime. Together with other soldiers, they came to a small Vietnamese village and killed hundreds of civilians — old men, women and children. But how different is the attitude of these soldiers towards what happened. The first one was tormented by what he had done. The second considered his actions justified.

How can two people react so differently to the same event? This is related to conscience, a God—given ability that helps you look at yourself honestly and evaluate your actions and intentions. Conscience is our inner sense of good and evil.

When making decisions, some people act on the principle: do as your conscience tells you. Unfortunately, conscience is not always a reliable adviser. Many turn a blind eye to terrible atrocities and even commit them themselves, but do not feel any remorse. The English writer Samuel Butler once remarked that conscience "quickly cuts off a conversation with those who do not want to listen to it." I hope, Your Honor, that your conscience will be a reliable adviser to you, will not close your eyes to the injustice of the accusation and will help confirm the reputation of an objective and fair judge.

In 1996, the Russian government rehabilitated Jehovah's Witnesses as victims of political repression. It is noteworthy that next to the Kineshma court in the park there is a monument to the victims of political repression. However, in 2017, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation classified the legal organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses as extremist. In the Soviet Union, the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses was banned. Therefore, a person was imprisoned if he professed this religion, that is, he gathered with believers to discuss the Bible and preached to other people.

In modern Russia, the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses is not prohibited. Nevertheless, the prosecution incorrectly applies the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 04/20/2017, extending it to legitimate religious activities. But this is contrary to the law, including the Constitution and the 1996 law on the rehabilitation of victims of political repression. Only rhetorical questions remain: does history teach you nothing? do law enforcement agencies really believe that the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses correspond not to Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, but to Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation?

Now I would like to emphasize that I also act in accordance with my personal beliefs, guided by the law and conscience. Extremism in all its manifestations is alien to me. [...] The Bible says: "And it will come to pass in the last days, the mountain of the house of the Lord will be set at the head of the mountains and will rise above the hills, and all nations will flow to it. And many nations will go and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law will come out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge the nations, and will rebuke many tribes; and they will turn their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles: the people will not lift up the sword against the people, and they will no longer learn to fight" (Isaiah 2:2-4).

This prophecy is being fulfilled today. Now over 8.5 million people around the world are fulfilling the will of Jehovah God, worshipping him the way Christians worshipped in the first century AD. Representatives of different nations join in pure worship, become peaceful and no longer learn to fight. Jehovah's Witnesses have nothing to do with extremism. On the contrary, they learn goodness and love from God, as was evident from the audio recordings that were examined at the trial.

During the two world wars, Jehovah's Witnesses around the world experienced severe persecution because of their position of neutrality and active preaching about the Kingdom of God. Since 2006, a wave of persecution against Jehovah's Witnesses has risen again in Russia. Law enforcement agencies and the judicial system were involved in this. It is clear that employees of these structures sometimes simply follow orders from above. It can be said that Jehovah's Witnesses have become hostages of the internal policy of the Russian state. But the opponents did not take into account one thing: Jehovah stands by his servants like a mountain. Modern examples show this. Hitler promised to destroy Jehovah's Witnesses. The Soviet Union tried to break the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses by putting them in prisons and camps. But Jehovah did not allow his servants in these countries to be destroyed. Now, both in Germany and in the countries of the former Soviet Union, Jehovah's Witnesses continue to preach and worship God.

I am sure that modern "Gamaleels" will appear in the judicial system of the Russian Federation. Who is Gamaliel? In the first century AD, after the resurrection of Jesus, his disciples and apostles began to actively preach about it in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court in Judea, ordered the capture of the apostles. The members of the Sanhedrin "were torn with anger and plotted to kill them. But standing up in the Sanhedrin, a certain Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, ordered the Apostles to be brought out for a short time, and said to them: Men of Israel! Think to yourself about these people, what you should do with them: ... I tell you, leave these people alone and leave them: for if this enterprise and this business are from men, then it will be destroyed, but if from God, then you cannot destroy it; take care that you do not find yourself and God-defying. They obeyed him and, calling the apostles, beat them and, forbidding them to speak about the name of Jesus, let them go" (Acts 5:33-40). I think it's time for Russian Themis to take off the blindfold and take an objective look at the facts.

Yes, pure worship of Jehovah will never disappear from the earth. Once in 2004, I told an official in the city administration: "We are here seriously and for a long time." But persecution is not surprising for Jehovah's Witnesses. Jesus Christ warned: "First of all, they will lay hands on you and persecute you, delivering you into synagogues and prisons, and will lead you before kings and rulers for my name; it will be for your testimony" (Luke 21:12, 13). In the Second Epistle to Timothy, in the 3rd chapter, the 12th verse it is written: "And all who wish to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." So I stand before you, Your Honor, to testify.

But why did I become a Jehovah's Witness, despite possible persecution? The 1990s. I'm 32. From the point of view of people, I have achieved some success. But there is an emptiness inside, the feeling that something is missing does not leave. And then one evening I have a Bible in my hands, and I read: "Vanity of vanities is all vanity! What is the use to a man of all his labors, which he labors under the sun? ... About the sons of men... so that they can see that they are animals in themselves; because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same fate: as they die, so do these, and they all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over cattle, because everything is vanity! Everything goes to one place: everything came from dust and everything will return to dust... As he came naked from his mother's womb, he departs as he came, and will take nothing from his labor that he could carry in his hand. And this is a serious illness: as he came, so he departs. What good is it to him that he worked for the wind? ... There are many things that multiply the fuss: what is better for a person? For who knows what is good for a man in life, in all the days of his vain life, which he spends as a shadow? And who will tell a man what will happen after him under the sun? ... The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and there is no reward for them anymore, because their memory is forgotten… Whatever your hand can do, do it with your strength; because in the grave where you will go, there is no work, no reflection, no knowledge, no wisdom… Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, until the hard days come and the years come, about which you will say: "I have no pleasure in them!"… Let's hear the essence of everything: fear God and keep His commandments, because this is everything for man" (The Book of Ecclesiastes). It turns out that the meaning of life is connected with God!

Is there a God? I read on: "Lift up your eyes to the height of heaven and see who created them? Who brings out the army by their account? He calls them all by name: according to the multitude of His might and great power, nothing is taken away from Him" (Isaiah 40:26). And here is God's conversation with Job: "The Lord answered Job out of the storm and said: ... I will ask you, and you explain to Me: where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know... do you know the statutes of heaven, can you establish his dominion on earth?" (Job 38:1, 4, 33). "Every house is built by someone; but God is the one who arranged everything" (Hebrews 3:4). "For his invisible things, his eternal power and divinity, have been visible from the creation of the world through the contemplation of creatures" (Romans 1:20). And what is God's name? "The Lord is a man of war, Jehovah is his name" (Exodus 15:3).

For the next few months, I carefully investigated the question: does the Creator exist? I have always loved learning, but in this matter I also needed the humility and honesty to admit that I was mistaken in thinking that life could have arisen by accident. Scientific facts about the Universe, about the Solar system, about the diversity of life on Earth, about the structure of a living cell directly point to the Creator. I'm not going to talk about how the four fundamental interactions in nature prove the existence of a Creator, or how the second law of thermodynamics directly points to the Creator, or how probability theory shows that life could not have arisen by chance. These and many other facts convinced me that there is a Creator, and this is Jehovah God.

Studying the Bible, I came to know Jehovah as a loving Father who wants his servants to live forever in Paradise on earth: "Blessed is the people whose God is Jehovah" (Psalm 32:12, translated by Paul). I became convinced that the Bible is the word of God. There is truth in it, and it can be trusted completely. In the last thirty years of my life, I have been convinced over and over again that God's norms and principles are always beneficial. These are my beliefs. My conscience is clear, because I am innocent before Jehovah God, and I have done nothing wrong to the Russian state.

Returning to Article 17 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, I want to add the following: Your Honor, I understand that you have a difficult task in making a decision. On the one hand, I am a Jehovah's Witness with Article 28 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, on the other hand, the FSB and the prosecutor's office with Article 282.2 Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It takes civic courage to pass an acquittal. Yes, it takes courage to act fairly. I remember the case of Pontius Pilate, when he was afraid of people and passed the most unfair sentence, giving Jesus Christ to execution. In my case, any conviction would be unfair. So 28 or 282?

In conclusion, I want to say that these three years of criminal prosecution have not embittered me. I have no hatred in my heart for the capture group, nor for the investigators, nor for the judges, nor for the prosecutors, nor for the employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service. On the contrary, there is peace in my heart, because I serve the God of Peace. And it is joyful to know that soon the God of Peace will establish genuine eternal peace on earth!

I ask you to acquit me.

Summary of the case

Region:

Ivanovo region

Locality:

Kineshma

What is suspected:

According to the investigation, "resumed extremist activities in the territory of the city of Kineshma"

The number of the criminal case:

12107240001000041

Case initiated:

November 18, 2021

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has not entered into force

Investigating:

The Federal Security Service of Russia in the Ivanovo region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-10/2024 (1-66/2023; 1-459/2022)

The Court of First Instance:

Kineshma City Court of the Ivanovo region

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Evgeny Krotovл