The Final Statement of Defendant Yevgeniy Bochko in Vyselki
"Worshipping God cannot be a crime. The fact that we were subjected to restrictions on our freedoms and spent much time in court is the result of a misinterpretation of the law on extremism," the believer said.
Transcript:
Your Honor! At the outset of my remarks, I would like to say a few words of gratitude. Your Honor, it is very pleasant that the entire process has taken place in a respectful atmosphere. You allowed all defendants, experts, witnesses, and defense attorneys to speak. You permitted many of my fellow believers to be present, even when there were not enough seats in the courtroom. You listened to all the arguments of both the prosecution and the defense. Thank you for not scheduling hearings when I was receiving medical treatment in the hospital — in Buzinovskaya, in Vyselki, and in Krasnodar — during these 3 years.
I would like to address the state prosecutors, Tatyana Pavlovna and Marina Sergeyevna, as well as those who replaced them: you are standing guard over the law and, as a rule, you do indeed prosecute those who break it.
My sincere thanks to my lawyer, Anton Nikolayevich Bogdanov, for his professional assistance and active defense at all the courts. If you were absent from a hearing, the defendants would wonder: “What surprises are in store for us today?” — and we felt our need for your help. You set an example of how to defend those who are accused and about whom so many false things are said. Thank you, dear Anton Nikolayevich!
The other lawyers also acted in a coordinated manner, and your great experience benefited all of us at the hearings. And the lay defender, Eduard Leonidovich, studied the comprehensive psycholinguistic, religious, and authorship expert study so thoroughly that he understood it better than the experts themselves.
I am very grateful to my wife, Anya, for being completely on my side, even though she herself faces persecution for her faith. These trials bring us closer together and strengthen our feelings for each other.
I am also very grateful to the support group — those who traveled from afar and those who walked from their homes to the court to support us and to receive support from other attendees. Often we had not known …