'I have no enemies, and I am always ready to help people. So how am I an extremist?' the believer said in her final statement.
Transcript:
Your Honor, I, Yekaterina Nikolaevna Demidova, still cannot understand why I am here. All my life I worked for the government, not for myself. I have only done good for people. No one will tell you that I have ever insulted anyone or refused anyone help. To this day, I visit children from an orphanage. Despite my small pension, I always try to bring them little gifts.
Is it forbidden in our country to talk to people about good things, to greet them, to talk about God? From childhood, my parents instilled in me a love for God and encouraged me to read the Bible. Thanks to God, I learned to respect people even more.
The Bible says: “Feed your enemy.” I have no enemies, and I am always ready to help people. So how am I an extremist? I obey the laws of the country where I live. Jesus said, and these words are recorded in the Bible: “Pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God.” I have no debts to the government...
God wants me to share the good news with people, and out of love for God I do this. For example, about how a husband should respect his wife, and a wife her husband, and that children should be obedient to their parents. No one has the right to force anyone to listen to the Holy Scriptures. This is a person’s own choice.
Thanks to God’s Word, the Bible, I have become much kinder, learned to respect each person’s opinion, do good for people, and treat people with respect under any circumstances. Watching the video in court that was recorded while I was working at the ministry, we saw that I was talking with my coworker Anya. It was clearly visible and audible that Anya herself wanted to talk with me about the Bible. She asked me questions, and I answered her respectfully. We talked about religion. I said that each person decides for themselves which religion to choose, and they have that right; that we are children of God, and he wants us to respect each other; about Jesus, who taught us to follow in his footsteps; about the fact …