The last word of the defendant Nikolai Stepanov in Vologda

RUSSIA 

The last word of the defendant Nikolai Stepanov in Vologda

September 1, 2022

Vologda region

From the courtroom

In his speech, the defendant repeatedly stressed that faith encourages him to treat people of different religious affiliations with respect and maintain peaceful relations with them. "The manifestation of hostility, violence and hatred is incompatible with my views," he said.

Transcript of the court session in the Vologda City Court of the Vologda Region dated 09/01/2022 in the case 1-389/2022 on charges of Stepanov Nikolai Alexandrovich and Baranov Yuri Vladimirovich of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Stepanov Nikolay Alexandrovich: Dear court! Before speaking in my defense, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to both those present in this Room and other people.

Dear Elena Vladimirovna, I would like to express my gratitude to you for your attentive, respectful and friendly attitude towards me throughout the entire process. It is clear that you are unbiased, which gives me hope for a fair solution in this difficult case.

Thanks to Secretary Lydia Valentinovna for diligently fulfilling her duties. I thank the representative of the Prosecutor's Office for the humane and respectful attitude towards my faith.

Thanks to the lawyers, Sergey Stanislavovich and Vladimir Andreevich, for the help and professionalism that you showed defending me not only in this trial, but also for the entire period of criminal prosecution, starting from 12/19/2019.

I especially want to thank my wife, Alla. Although we have been married for more than 25 years, in difficult circumstances for our family, I got to know her from another side. From the very first days, she helped me defend my innocence in word and deed. These difficulties have brought us even closer together. I understand that it fulfills the idea from Proverbs 18:22 that whoever finds a good wife has found a treasure. She is my blessing.

And, of course, I want to express my great gratitude to all my friends and relatives, to all those who are not in this room. Despite the long distances and other circumstances, they were always there, supporting and strengthening me and my family. As you might have noticed, I always had a support group at every court hearing. Although my friends knew that the meetings would most likely be closed and they would not be allowed into the hall, they still came before the start, cheered me on and waited until the end of the meeting.

Your Honor, this is most likely the first time you have had to consider a criminal case against people who profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. It is difficult to imagine that these people would violate the law of the country, especially the criminal one. This is because we follow the command written in Romans 13:1: "Let every soul be subject to the highest authorities." I have lived in this city all my life, I have always been in the public eye, I have been doing useful work for society. Over the past 26 years, since I became a Jehovah's Witness, I have always been a law-abiding citizen, and nothing has changed in my views and behavior after April 2017. And suddenly, at one point, I became a criminal, and even a particularly dangerous one. So dangerous that I was arrested and placed in a solitary cell in a special block of the pre-trial detention center, where especially dangerous criminals are located. This is despite the fact that in my case there are not only victims, but even damages.

Since I became a Christian, the meaning of my life has been to please God, whose name is Jehovah, and to help people get to know him. The fact that I am accused of attributing bad motives is completely at odds with both the beliefs of my religion and my "I".

Now, on the merits of my case. I am accused of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This is a very serious accusation. What was established during the investigation? In fact, the totality of the evidence presented in the case includes only the fact that I profess the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses: I sang songs with my co-religionists, discussed the Bible with them and prayed to Jehovah God. However, is this a crime? No. All my actions, which are charged, in accordance with the explanations of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of 28.10.2021, consisted solely in "exercising my right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion," and thus, as explained by the Supreme Court, "do not constitute a crime."

I also want to note that the ECHR, by its decision of 06/07/2022, found us innocent and ordered the authorities of the Russian Federation to stop criminal prosecution and release everyone from custody. Unfortunately, this decree has not yet been implemented, but I am sure that in the future I and those who have been prosecuted will be acquitted.

The question may arise: if you are so decent, why are you being persecuted? In fact, it was foretold in the Bible. I want to quote the Second letter to Timothy: "Yes, all followers of Christ Jesus who want to faithfully serve God will be persecuted." The key words here are "all" and "they will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12). Everyone who wants to live godly, that is, those who want to remain faithful to God, will be persecuted. This is being fulfilled for us, Jehovah's Witnesses, and we are not surprised that we are being tried and sent to jail. Of course, this cannot but be upsetting, but the fact is that persecution is inevitable. They were in the first century of our era, in the XX century and continue now.

Even Jesus Christ, a sinless man, found himself in the dock. If you think about what he was accused of, then, strangely enough, in modern terms, he was accused of extremism, of speaking out against the government. This is what the Gospel of Luke says: "Then Pilate called together the senior priests, the rulers and the people and said: "You have brought this man to me and claim that he is inciting the people to revolt. I questioned him in front of you and saw that he was innocent of what you accuse him of" (Luke 23:13, 14). He was eventually executed for a crime he did not commit.

Jesus Christ maintained political neutrality, he did not join the political parties of that time, did not interfere with the rule of the Romans over Judea, did not call for rebellion and overthrow of power. On earth, he performed only what was entrusted to him by his Father, Jehovah God, — he proclaimed the good news to all people regarding the future.

The Bible promises that the paradise lost by Adam and Eve will be restored on earth, and people will live forever, as originally planned by the Creator. Jehovah, through his Word, the Bible, promises to eliminate all evil and suffering, disease and hunger. All this will be accomplished through the Kingdom of God — the heavenly government headed by Jesus Christ and 144,000 of his co-rulers. This will be possible thanks to the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God.

The servants of God were subjected to particularly severe persecution in the twentieth century. For their devotion to Jehovah, his witnesses were among the first to end up in concentration camps. Although Jehovah's Witnesses adhered to political neutrality, they refused to pronounce "Heil Hitler", support racism and violence, and join the ranks of the Wehrmacht for religious reasons. Of the 35,000 Witnesses living in European countries under the yoke of the Nazis, more than a third were directly persecuted. Most of them were arrested, and hundreds of their children were sent to orphanages or given to Nazi families. About 4,200 Jehovah's Witnesses ended up in Nazi concentration camps. The most prominent historian Detlef Garbe wrote: "The leaders of the National Assembly (Nazis) spoke directly about the need to erase Bible scholars from German history." The number of dead Witnesses is estimated at 1,600, of which 548 were directly executed (including 39 minors).

In the Soviet Union, the peak of repression occurred in April 1951, when during an operation codenamed "North" more than 8,000 people were taken from the western republics to Siberia.

For decades, until the collapse of the Soviet Union, believers were sentenced to long prison terms for allegedly anti-Soviet activities or recognized as "enemies of the people." In the early 1990s, the repressed Jehovah's Witnesses were recognized as victims and rehabilitated by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, history repeats itself nowadays. But what is the conclusion? The government changed, the laws changed and those who were accused of a crime were rehabilitated. In this world, people have nothing permanent, unlike the principles established by God. And I will be faithful to the Creator, no matter how changing human laws regard it.

No matter what happens, thanks to Jehovah's support, about 9 million people serve him all over the world today. At the time of the liquidation of legal entities in Russia, there were about 200 thousand Witnesses and about 120 thousand adherents of our religion. Despite the fact that we live in different countries and speak different languages, there is unity among us in the worship of God. We do our best to avoid social, ethnic and racial divisions among us, we love God and each other.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not take up arms and do not learn to fight, we love all people and do not want to cause harm and suffering to anyone. For this reason, extremism is alien to me. For this reason, there are no victims in our case. Moreover, there are simply no dissatisfied Jehovah's Witnesses. There is not a single fact, not a single document, not a single telephone conversation and not a single frame from video materials in which I or my co-religionists would discuss topics related to extremism. In fact, we are the victims. Armed men broke into our apartment early in the morning, then conducted a search, and in the evening I was detained and eventually sent to a pre-trial detention center for 8 months. My family was left without a husband and father, without means of livelihood.

Being a Jehovah's Witness is a great honor, it means not only believing that God exists, but also living in accordance with his high standards and guidance, which are found in his word, the Bible. A Christian's faith must be confirmed by deeds. This is recorded in James 2:26: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead." I am determined to be faithful to Jehovah now and for all eternity, and no one will be able to stop me.

Your Honor! If, according to the verdict of the court, I have to go through a punishment in the form of imprisonment, then I am sure that this will strengthen my faith and bring me even closer to Jehovah. Over the years of serving God, I realized that it is not people who need to be afraid, but the Creator. I have been in custody for almost 8 months and I want to say that I have never seen my Father's hand so close before. And the secret is that there are no barriers for the holy spirit of God. With the help of this force, the universe was created, including the Earth. Therefore, neither high walls, nor bars, nor barbed wire can prevent my Father from further strengthening me.

It should also be noted that there are many sincere people in prisons and colonies, perhaps I will help someone learn about Jehovah and the wonderful hope for all people, as it is said in Psalm 37:29: "The righteous will inherit the earth and live on it forever."

Dear Court, I am not guilty before the state, before people, or before Jehovah God. My conscience is clear. It is in your power to put an end to these baseless persecutions. As you can see by examining the materials of this case, I simply profess religious views that are not prohibited by law. As a poet, Your Honor, I ask you to make a fair decision, fully acquit me and restore my rights!

Summary of the case

Region:

Vologda region

Locality:

Vologda

What is suspected of:

According to the investigation, "they took active actions expressed in convening meetings, organizing religious performances and worship services at these meetings, distributing extremist literature, and collecting financial funds under the guise of donations."

Criminal case number:

11902190029061043

Case initiated:

December 19, 2019

Current stage of the case:

The verdict has entered into force

Investigating:

From the SU IC of Russia in the Vologda region

Articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation:

282.2 (1)

Case number in court:

1-389/2022

Court of First Instance:

Vologda City Court of the Vologda region

Judge of the Court of First instance:

Elena Golovanovaм