'I saw bags over people’s heads. Wires on their limbs. Broken ribs. Damaged kidneys. People beaten to death. Starvation for over a year. No medical help. People rotting alive—their arms, their legs. Lice and bedbugs. Two showers a year that we were allowed to, and after each one, we came out filthier than before. And beaten as well.'
Final Statements
“I'm not going to tell you, because I know one thing: until your life gets into such a situation, no matter how I describe it, no matter how beautifully I speak about it using different slogans, it won't reach anyone”.
‘Stop torturing my grandmother and my children.’
'If I am given a prison sentence, I will serve it with a clear conscience and dignity.'
‘Your power is based on lies and violence’
'What will we tell our children and grandchildren about these troubled times?'
'I do repent, of course. Every day for a year and a half.'
'We are dealt guilty verdicts convicted for doubtings that an assault on a neighboring state is aimed at maintaining international peace and security.'
'One must completely trample on the law and common sense to find calls for extremist activity in songs written a hundred years ago…'
'Every teaching, including the one I teach, is a teaching of freedom.'
'...When I told the refugee camp staff about my past service, I hoped to find at least common sense, at most justice. But now I am afraid. I am afraid, gentlemen. But not before justice. I am afraid that here, in this courtroom, I may find neither.'
'And none of this is about the law. Nor is it about the truth. And in this sense, of course, it is much easier for me, because in 20 months I have not had to lie once. And telling the truth is easy and pleasant. Ultimately, truth and justice always prevail.'
‘The inability to peacefully influence the actions of the authorities, and the criminal prosecution of those who disagree, leads to some leaving the country, while others decide to take action.’
‘I told the truth. If I had known this truth earlier, I would have said it earlier.’
'I saw bags over people’s heads, wires attached to different parts of their bodies, broken ribs, damaged kidneys, people beaten to death, hunger lasting for more than a year, no medical assistance whatsoever, people rotting, legs, arms, lice, bedbugs, two showers in a year–and after those showers we left dirtier than when we arrived, and beaten as well.'
'For some reason, it is now customary to take pride only in military successes. Excuse me, but the motherland is like a mother. Mothers sometimes get sick, and sometimes things don't work out for them. Does that mean we stop loving them? No.'
‘I have never been an enemy of the Soviet government.’
‘I do not at present see any reason to prove my innocence with regard to the charges brought against me, since the greater part of them are absolutely unfounded and do not correspond to reality.’
'I know my verdict. I knew it already a year ago when I saw in the rear view mirror the people in black uniforms and black masks running after my car. Such is the price in today’s Russia for refusing to stay silent.'
'Your Honour, I have nothing further to add. Everything was said during the closing arguments by my lawyer and me.'
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