'No matter how long or how meticulously the authorities search for evidence of the 'crime' for which I am being tried, they will not find it. Because there was no crime, and there is no guilt.'
Final Statements
'And you, please promise to remain hopeful and to remember how to smile. If we lose the ability to enjoy life, it would mean they have won.'
'I would also like to draw attention to the fact that, as a result of my actions, no citizen of the Russian Federation, including military personnel, was harmed. Nor was any civilian object damaged.'
'This is my country, this is my home, I am responsible for it. My conscience is clear, I am not ashamed or afraid'.
‘I never held anti-Soviet views or convictions and never had the aim of weakening Soviet power.’
'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.'
'Without the freedom of speech, without the ability of citizens to express their opinion, without fear of prosecution, a country is doomed to collapse.'
'We are accused of seizing power in the Russian Federation. But, excuse me, when did we personally come to live in the Russian Federation? We lived in Ukraine, and none of us moved to the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation came to us itself. It annexed our homeland Crimea as part of its country. Moreover, it did so illegally. And this is not my personal opinion, but the opinion of the entire international community.'
'I will be extremely brief. I am innocent.'
'Right now it may seem to you that I am out of my mind and all of you are sane, for one cannot swim against the current. But to me, it seems that you have gone mad.'
‘My entire life and literary work were bound to the Communist Party.’
'I don’t want to talk and speculate about journalism, about its problems in Russia, because there is no more journalism in Russia.'
'Our case is of no significance whatsoever, and no one involved in it deserves such cruel punishment.'
'Your Honour, I have nothing further to add. Everything was said during the closing arguments by my lawyer and me.'
‘I decided to fight back. Ukraine is my home.’
'One cannot seek justice only for oneself and silence one’s conscience when justice is being violated in relation to others.'
‘...even if my works have not been good enough today, I take pride in the thought that they will serve as fertiliser for the future Soviet Homers...’
‘You may put me in prison, send me to a camp, but I am certain that no honest person will condemn me.’
'All this year, I feel like a victim of the greatest absurdity I have ever encountered in life and art.'
'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.'
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