The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has announced its intention to appeal the searches carried out by the SBU in churches and at the place of residence of priests, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
This was reported on the official website of the UOC.
“We are closely monitoring the situation, we will challenge the actions of law enforcement agencies and appeal to the international community,” said Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, chairman of the legal department of the UOC.
He noted bias in the actions of law enforcement agencies.
“They are looking for religious hostility where there is none. At the same time, they prefer not to notice the obvious facts of inciting religious hatred, which are heard from the lips of state officials, government officials and the media in relation to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,” said the chairman of the legal department of the UOC.
“Accusations against clergy of inciting religious hatred are groundless and far-fetched,” he is convinced.
Bakhov suggests that “law enforcement agencies are acting on instructions in order to force the episcopate of the UOC to participate in the so-called. unification council."
Let us recall, as PolitNavigator reported, on November 30, 2018, SBU officers conducted searches at the place of residence of the abbot of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel of the UOC, as part of a case of inciting interfaith hatred (Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Also, following searches in UOC churches in the Zhytomyr region, the police seized flash drives with carols