‘It was the struggle for our right to preserve our identity and not be slaves in our own homeland that brought me and 24 of my friends here–to the defendants’ bench.’
Final Statements
‘Our courts must not become mere window dressing; they must make their own decisions.’
‘A security officer told my parents, “We’re taking revenge on you for the past.”’
'An eagle cannot remain in a cage. My people need me!'
'I won't hide it–my dream is independence.'
'What is the point of speaking of leniency, mercy, or understanding? This system knows nothing of these words.'
'... if a person possesses inner freedom, then the loss of external freedom is not all that important. For freedom is necessity overcome.'
'My prison term doesn’t scare me, I don’t care about it in the slightest. I beg God only for a dignified life.'
'...good triumphs even when it perishes, because, under the law of the conservation of goodness, it will inevitably find someone in whom to take root.'
'When I was detained, all my electronic devices were seized during the search. If there had been anything on them, I think it would have been included in the case file.'
'I have carried out my journalistic work within the law and in accordance with journalistic standards.'
'Crime cannot defeat the police, illness must not drive out the doctor, and problems in society cannot overcome journalism.'
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