Voice of Orthodox Ukraine

An American lawyer for the UOC reminded of the real situation in Ukraine, where the SBU imprisons Orthodox priests and journalists on false charges. Robert Amsterdam, head of the international human rights firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP, responded to President Volodymyr Zelensky's thanks to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew for "strengthening Orthodoxy in Ukraine" during the "Peace Summit" in Switzerland. The lawyer wrote on his X that this is the most insulting level of hypocrisy. "To utter such a statement at the same moment the SBU is jailing priests and journalists on false charges, seizing and demolishing churches, and terrorizing the faithful because of their beliefs - it is the most insulting level of hypocrisy," he emphasized. #freedomforUOC #religious_discrimination #truth_about_Ukraine Source of the info. Subscribe to Voice of Orthodox Ukraine, know truth about human rights and religious politics in Ukraine

The UOC hierarch did not admit his guilt. On June 18, the Vinnytsia Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court's sentence, according to which the head of the Tulchyn Eparchy, Metropolitan Jonathan (Yeletskikh), was sentenced to five years of imprisonment with confiscation of property, reports Vinnitsia.info. The UOC hierarch was found guilty of justifying, recognizing as lawful, and denying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and glorifying its participants. The sentence of the Vinnytsia City Court dated August 7, 2023, which found Anatoliy Ivanovich Yeletskikh guilty of committing crimes under Part 2 of Article 161, Part 3 of Article 436-2, Part 3 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 109, Part 3 of Article 15, and Part 1 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code, was left unchanged. The appellate court's decision comes into force from the moment it is announced and can be appealed to the Cassation Criminal Court of the Supreme Court of Ukraine within 3 months from the date of its announcement. The full text of the court decision will be announced on June 21, 2024, at 15:00. #illegal_prosecution #freedomforUOC #religious_discrimination #truth_about_Ukraine Source of the info. Subscribe to Voice of Orthodox Ukraine, know truth about human rights and religious politics in Ukraine

MP Oleksandr Oleksiychuk stated that the anti-church bill will be put to a vote in the coming weeks. Oleksandr Oleksiychuk, an MP from the Servant of the People party, announced that 226 signatures have been collected in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to bring the anti-church bill 8371 to the session hall for a vote. He made this announcement during a broadcast on Pershyi channel dedicated to the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). He explained that the bill had not been brought to the Verkhovna Rada for a second reading because MPs were not confident it would pass. "In order to ensure that the bill brought to the floor will be supported by the majority, there was an agreement among all factions and groups to collect signatures to bring the bill to the floor and have it supported," he explained. Oleksiychuk added that the bill would be put to a vote in the coming weeks and expressed confidence that it would receive over 260 votes. As reported by the UOJ, Robert Amsterdam, head of the international human rights firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP, stated that following the Peace Summit held on June 15-16 in Switzerland, the authorities would launch a new aggressive wave of crackdowns against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. #illegal_prosecution #attempts_to_ban_the_UOC #discriminatory_laws #freedomforUOC #religious_discrimination #truth_about_Ukraine Source of the info. Subscribe to Voice of Orthodox Ukraine, know truth about human rights and religious politics in Ukraine

◾️On June 16, in Svityaz, there was an attempt to start the process of raider seizure of the UOC Peter and Paul Monastery. In the local house of culture, a "meeting of the religious community regarding the transition to the OCU" was announced. At this meeting, as usual, a territorial community was convened, which has nothing to do with the parishioners and brethren of the monastery. However, the criminals who organized these meetings miscalculated cruelly. The abbot of the monastery with the brethren also came to visit this event. Archimandrite Arseniy urged residents not to succumb to provocations on religious grounds and, instead of division, to unite around the defense of Ukraine. 102 participants voted for the "transition to the OCU", and 249 voted against. That is, even the territorial community opposed the raider seizure of the shrine. The OCU cleric after seeing the result immediately left the without waiting for the final. He did not offer his activists any option for further organization. #freedomforUOC #religious_discrimination #truth_about_Ukraine Source of the info. Subscribe to Voice of Orthodox Ukraine, know truth about human rights and religious politics in Ukraine

Father Serhiy's lawyer called this decision a "small victory". On June 17, an investigative judge of the Solomiansky District Court granted the petition of the defenders of Archpriest Serhiy Chertylin and removed Prosecutor Yulia Diadiuk from the procedural management of the case, reported the lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman. "I remind you that this particular prosecutor, together with investigator Savenko, was in the deliberation room with Judge Voronkin. With God's help, we are moving forward! Truth will prevail!" he wrote. As the UOJ previously reported, on May 8, during the trial of Archpriest Serhiy Chertylin, the lawyers discovered a violation of the secrecy of the deliberation room, and therefore the defense side believes that pressure was exerted on the judge. #freedomforUOC #religious_discrimination #truth_about_Ukraine Source of the info. Subscribe to Voice of Orthodox Ukraine, know truth about human rights and religious politics in Ukraine