Dear Friends,
Many of you have been asking for an update on the prosecutions of my sons (and myself) surrounding the Soviet Moscow protest stickers. While the City of Moscow has terminated the local mask mandate and dropped the charges against those arrested at the protest/psalm sing, they are continuing to pursue prosecution of both my sons for the placement of non-damaging protest stickers on city poles, citing an ordinance that has never been enforced in the history of the city. They are also prosecuting me for allegedly aiding and abetting said stickering! In that regard, nothing has changed. The updates are threefold. First, our lawyer filed motions to dismiss on constitutional grounds several weeks ago. Oral arguments were more than a month ago. Unfortunately, we have yet to receive a ruling. Second, the City of Moscow is claiming to have complied with our public records requests connected to discovery for our defense, but we have clear evidence that they are, in fact, withholding embarrassing records. This was brought to their attention, and they are now insisting that no further public records exist. At this point, our only option to gain access to those records would be litigation parallel to our criminal defense, which would be a costly addition to our legal adventures. We are currently deciding whether or not to pursue that litigation or to simply move on, allowing the more embarrassing records to remain hidden.
Lastly, this past Friday, our church office received a phone call which turned out to be a death threat on my older son. This threat was immediately reported to the Moscow Police Department. The department and the local prosecutors, after identifying the local who made the threat, have decided to take no action. To date, they have not notified us, or shared the identity of the gentleman who threatened to shoot my son “between the eyes”. This is the same department that claims no audio or video of their treatment of my sons exists. The same department who handcuffed my son on the sidewalk under suspicion of placing a sticker, and the same prosecutors who have now been pursuing us with the threat of jail time for months. So, please be in prayer that this threat would come to nothing, that legal vindication would come soon, and that we would have wisdom in whether to open another legal front in our resistance to this prosecution.
We are incredibly grateful for your prayers and support.
Nate Wilson