Mariia Dubovik

A resident of Moscow Oblast, born in 1998. A student at the Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Medicine. A defendant in the 'New Greatness' case.

She was detained in the spring of 2018. She spent five months in detention before being transferred to house arrest. She was sentenced to six years’ probation on charges of creating and participating in an extremist community. The European Court of Human Rights awarded Maria €3,300 in compensation in connection with the unjustifiably lengthy pre-trial measure imposed on her.

2020s

Reading time: 12 minutes

The Final Statement

‘I want to say that, whatever happens next, we all have one important feeling in this case. The greatest and most important one. It illuminates life and makes you unimaginably happy. And it can also be painful. It is love. Thanks to it, I had the strength to endure these long two years. Do not betray this feeling.’

The seemingly endless trial on an unjust charge has finally come to an end. I have been given the opportunity to make a final statement–and of course, I want to make full use of it. I also want to speak out and tell you what I have been through over these two and a half years.

Like some monstrous tsunami, I was thrown out of my ordinary life. First into prison, and then into the exhausting daily ordeal of house arrest. When you become a prisoner in your own home, you are deprived of the things that people normally do. I cannot go for a walk. I cannot walk to the shops. I cannot go to the cinema or to church. Any trip beyond my property turns into a rather depressing quest that you know all too well–getting permission and so on.

Moreover, because of the monstrous charges against me, when I spent five whole months in a pre-trial detention centre, my health deteriorated. At present, I need a thorough comprehensive examination as well as treatment. I urgently need a consultation with a laser surgeon and surgery, because my eyesight has deteriorated severely, which could lead to terrible consequences if nothing is done.

I do not admit my guilt. I did nothing wrong, and to this day I cannot understand exactly what I am being tried for. Our trial lasted an entire year. For an entire year, I thought that this nightmare and absurdity would pass. That everything would be resolved and this nightmare would end. But it all remained. The prosecution pretends that nothing happened, and time after time, day after day, the same thing is repeated: ‘Guilty, everything has been proven, everything is confirmed.‘ Ignoring the obvious, presenting no evidence, turning white into black. I do not understand why some of the prosecutor’s statements are not supported by anything.

The creator of this entire nightmare is, as it seems to me, an unhealthy person who takes pleasure in ruining the lives of young people in this way. He himself told the court that he had a hobby of collecting people, attending meetings and, like some higher power, deciding whom to send into the grinding wheels of the system and whom to allow to live. When I heard his voice and his maniacal laughter, without even seeing him, I felt sick and frightened–I was shaking. This man, whose testimony the prosecutor relies on, is a liar.

Like the Pied Piper from a dark fairy tale, he appeared in my life and led me, my friend Anya, my friend Slava, Ruslan and other young people along with him. It was he, and no one else, who rented that cursed office on Bratislavskaya, wrote the ill-fated charter, suggested beating people of non-Russian appearance, buying weapons and explosives, cooperating with organisations banned in Russia, and throwing incendiary mixtures at the police. And after all that, he is a witness, while we, who paid no attention to his ravings, became defendants.

For two endlessly long days, we listened to his testimony. We did not see his face; he did not dare enter the courtroom. He was afraid to testify while looking us in the eye. We heard his voice. And that voice is a liar.

He lied to the court when he said that he had found my surname on the internet and in a mobile operator’s database–that number had never been registered in my name. He lied to the court when he said that we intended to make explosives. He lied to the court when he said that I had told someone that we were training with weapons. He lied to the court when he said that we wanted to stage a coup and seize power in the country. Who among you, in their right mind and with a clear head, can imagine eight young people being capable of such a thing?

He lied to the court when he said that I had designed leaflets. The video recording submitted to the court clearly shows that it was he who brought the leaflets to the meetings. He also handed out copies of the charter at one of the meetings. He lied to the court when he said that I had called for beating police officers. There is a message in the chat posted under my name that completely refutes this. He lied to the court about how, on 4 March, he had supposedly been desperately hoping that we would all quarrel with one another, whereas the evidence examined shows that it was precisely on 4 March that he called for us not to ‘waste personnel’ after I announced that I was leaving everyone. He lied all the time, to everyone and everywhere. Surely this man, who even in court said that weapons were necessary and that there should be as many as possible, is not dangerous to the people around him?

For some reason, I am convinced that even the prosecutor did not believe him. But since he is a man acting under orders, the case has been initiated, and the prosecutor keeps repeating the nonsense that we are criminals and that all of us must be punished. But for what?

I am currently forbidden from using the internet, and the only source of information available to me is television. Sometimes well-known television presenters discuss our case and say something like, ‘Well, thank goodness the police stopped them, otherwise we were almost dealing with terrorists who were going to set people and buses on fire.’ What a monstrous lie. I never did anything wrong. I did not write this charter. I did not post it in the Telegram chat. I did not call on anyone to use violence. I did not call for beating police officers. On the contrary, I have always spoken out, and will continue to speak out, against violence. I did not design any leaflets or print them. I did not recruit anyone–I do not even know how to do that.

My father, who was questioned in court, explained in detail how the search at my home was conducted. Neither I nor any members of my family were present at the place where this terrible charter was allegedly found. The defence lawyers petitioned for the witnesses who had been present during the search of my home to be summoned, but they never appeared in court. Therefore, the question of how the search was conducted and whether anything was actually found in my home remains open. And so I am now sitting here, waiting for the decision that will determine my fate.

I was born in 1998, and I am now 22 years old. My mother and father, who have aged so much over these two years, always raised me to love my country and other people. I was never interested in politics. I was as far removed from it as could be. I have always been drawn to biology, animals and chemistry–which is why I chose to become a veterinarian. Yet for two years now, I have been deprived of the opportunity to study.

I am grateful to my parents, grandparents and grandparents for not turning their backs on me in that cursed March of 2018. I love you all very much. I am very grateful to my brother, who supported me immensely and had a great sense of humour. Perhaps his sense of humour helped us get through this madness. I am grateful to all the people who supported me and the other young people. They sacrificed their time, came to the hearings in all kinds of weather and at all hours. I am grateful to my defence lawyers–I feel that they have become members of our family. I am grateful to the journalists for the fact that I am not in prison now–I suppose that is thanks to them. I am grateful to my parish priest and confessor, who supported and continues to support my family and prays for us. I am grateful to all my relatives who serve in law enforcement. And when I was slandered and it was said that I felt hostility towards the police, they did not believe it and supported me. Some of them even came to court and gave evidence.

I am even grateful to those people who, without knowing me, called me a criminal and said horrible things about me. Because of them, I became stronger and wiser. I was never an extremist; I do not even know what that means. During house arrest, I began reading a great deal. Including the Gospel: ‘Love your enemies and bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat and persecute you.’ I am trying to forgive everyone who had a hand in this case. Even Zelinsky. Because, despite everything, there is a higher court–and everyone will ultimately be repaid according to their deeds.

It is very painful that for more than two years I have been unable to make my dreams a reality. I cannot study. And I still have not managed to get off my parents’ shoulders. I very much want to become an independent, self-reliant person. I want my parents to be proud of me. I want to ask forgiveness from everyone I have ever hurt–because I never did it out of malice.

I want to say that, whatever happens next, we all have one important feeling in this case. The greatest and most important one. It illuminates life and makes you unimaginably happy. And it can also be painful. It is love. Thanks to it, I had the strength to endure these long two years. Do not betray this feeling.

This case is destroying so many lives, and I ask you to put an end to this lawlessness. Of course, I will accept whatever decision the court makes in this case. But I very much hope that it will be a just one. I wanted to ask for mercy, but my lawyer said that I should ask for justice–the guilty ask for mercy. And neither Anya, nor Slava, nor Petya, nor Dima, nor I are guilty. I ask you very much for justice. Not only for myself, but also for the other young people. Especially those who are in prison now. Please, do not abandon us.

24 July 2020.
Lyublinsky District Court, Moscow, Russia.
Source: ‘Meduza‘.
For more information: ‘Memorial‘.
Photo: Maxim Shipenkov / EPA / Scanpix / LETA.