Yelensky urged members of the Public Council at the State Service for Ethnopolitics to provide their recommendations on the implementation of the law banning the UOC.On January 29, 2025, the Public Council of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) held a meeting to discuss the compliance of Law 3894-IX "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Activities of Religious Organizations" – commonly referred to as the UOC ban law – with the requirements of the European Commission. DESS reported this on Facebook.
The head of DESS, Viktor Yelensky, emphasized that active efforts are underway to meet the requirements and recommendations of the European Commission in the process of screening Ukrainian legislation.
This work specifically involves issues of freedom of conscience.
Yelensky informed council members that the service is paying special attention to the implementation of the Law on the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Activities of Religious Organizations, the consolidation of the religious environment for the country's defense, and the protection of freedom of conscience in wartime conditions. He described these as "a complex and multidimensional challenge".
"In all these matters, we rely on the support and expert analysis of the Public Council. Your knowledge and experience are extremely important for the effective fulfillment of the assigned tasks," Yelensky stressed.
Notably, the DESS Public Council includes two clerics from the OCU and a priest from the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine. The head of the council is Eskender Bariyev, chairman of the board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

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*◾️The parishioners of the St. Basil's Church of the UOC in the village of Pidzakharichy in Bukovina are preparing an appeal to the US government authorities to protect their rights.*

On January 26, a group of raiders from the OCU organized a meeting at which they decided to take the church away from Orthodox Christians.

The parish of the church has information about further falsification of documents.
The raiders from the OCU are preparing a brutal assault on the shrine.

The police and local authorities are either inactive or support the criminals.

❗️In this regard, Orthodox Christians decided to appeal to US Vice President J. D. Vance, who publicly spoke out in defense of the UOC.

The believers of the UOC in the USA are also preparing an appeal to the head of the State Department, Marco Rubio.

The parish itself submitted evidence about the terror of OCU activists to the US Embassy and international human rights organizations.

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On January 28, 2025, the Slavyansky City District Court of Donetsk region opened another hearing in the case against the abbot of the Svyatogirsk Lavra, ignoring the incomplete appearance of lawyers, not all of whom were able to participate in the hearing for good reasons.

As noted in the monastery, the court is still ignoring the demands to make the trial of the bishop publicly seen, considering only the extension of his imprisonment.

"Despite the previously filed motions of the defense lawyers, the court again preferred to consider the prosecutor's motion.

Some motions of the lawyers have remained unconsidered since last year, in particular - the motion to conduct live broadcasts of the hearings in the case of Bishop Arseny on the Youtube channel "Judiciary of Ukraine".

The hearing began with the prosecutor announcing a motion to extend Bishop Arseny's detention in the Dnipro pre-trial detention center for another two months. The term of the preliminary preventive measure in the form of detention will expire on February 2.

For its part, the defense insists on the release of the Lavra's vicar from custody on bail or under the suretyship of 11 people's deputies of Ukraine...

The session was interrupted by technical problems - the internet in the courthouse disappeared.

The consideration of the issue of further preventive measure for Bishop Arseny is to continue
on Thursday, January 30, 2025 online at 1:00 p.m.»

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The Parliament plans to hold another meeting of the relevant committee before the bill is submitted to the session hall.Discussions are ongoing in the Ukrainian Parliament regarding Bill 8371, which aims to ban the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in Ukraine. According to the Strana publication, citing its sources, there may be another meeting of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy before the bill is submitted to the session hall.
MP Natalia Pipa from the Holos party, who advocates for the swift adoption of Bill 8371, stated that discussions in the Parliament are focused on the timeline for communities to transition to other church jurisdictions – whether it should be six months or a year. There is also debate about who will be on the commission that will evaluate and issue verdicts on the "affiliation" of communities with the aggressor state.

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Epifaniy assured Patriarch Bartholomew that the doors and hearts of OCU representatives are open to all.On 13 August at the meeting of the official delegation of Ukraine with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the head of the OCU Epifaniy Dumenko assured the Ecumenical Patriarch that he constantly calls on representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to unite.
“The Orthodox Church of Ukraine and I personally always and invariably proclaim that our doors and our hearts are open to all. We have repeatedly appealed and continue to appeal to our brothers and sisters, who are still in the Moscow jurisdiction, with a call for unity, for the joint creation of a single Local Church, as defined by the Tomos and canonical order,” the press service of the OCU cites Dumenko.
Earlier police officers, who were engaged in seizing the Transfiguration Cathedral of the UOC in Bila Tserkva, as well as the OCU activists themselves used tear gas against parishioners.
Also, during the seizure of the Ivano-Frankivsk Cathedral of the UOC on 28 March 2023, the secretary of the eparchy, Archpriest Vasyl Romaniuk, was hospitalised unconscious as a result of tear gas directed in his face.
On 25 July 2022, the “dean” of the Kremenchuk district of the OCU, Volodymyr Makohon, stated that 90% of the ‘clergy’ of Dumenko's structure were against uniting with priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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Despite the fact that the term of detention has ended, contrary to the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, despite violations by judges. Lawlessness continues. Where is the Guarantor of the Constitution when the Prosecutor General or the Board of Judges intervenes?

On Thursday, August 15, at 1:00 p.m., in the Slavyansk City District Court, Donetsk region, a regular court hearing in the case of the abbot of the Sviatogorsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseny.

For three days - from August 13 to 15 - the presiding judge considers the issue of choosing a measure of restraint for Vladyka!

Metropolitan Arseny is still in prison, despite the fact that
?the grounds for his detention have already been declared unconstitutional: in July this year, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared unconstitutional part six of Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine on the extension of the term of detention under martial law,

?the decision to extend the detention of Vladyka was made by a judge who was not authorized to do so,
?The 60 days of detention appointed on April 25 by the Zhovtnevyi District Court in Dnipro expired on June 22.

❗However, the abbot of the Lavra is still imprisoned in the Dnipro pre-trial detention center.

Brothers and sisters, we ask for your holy prayers!

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Lawyers emphasize that this is not the first instance where the investigator has failed to arrange escort.Lawyers for the Orthodox journalists believe that the Kyiv Court of Appeal is violating the rights of the suspects.
In a comment to the UOJ, the lawyers stated that on May 29, 2024, a session of the Kyiv Court of Appeal was supposed to consider an appeal against the decision of the investigating judge to extend the detention of Orthodox journalist Andriy Ovcharenko.
However, Judge Melnyk of the Kyiv Court of Appeal postponed the consideration of the appeal "due to the failure to deliver the detained Ovcharenko to the courtroom."
The court explained that they were unable to deliver Andriy Ovcharenko to the courtroom because the escorting ot the suspect had not been coordinated with the investigator.
Lawyers emphasize that this is not the first instance where the investigator has failed to arrange the convoy.
At the same time, in all judicial processes initiated by the investigation, detainees are delivered on time.
Lawyers consider such actions "a violation of the rights of the suspects to a fair consideration of the appeal."

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The ruling bishop of the Cherkasy Eparchy stated that he has to go home to the Kyiv region every night and cannot participate in church services.On May 29, in the Sosnivka District Court of Cherkasy, a hearing was held on changing the measure of restraint for Metropolitan Theodosiy of Cherkasy and Kaniv, according to Suspline.
Provocateurs with portraits of Patriarch Kirill awaited the bishop outside the court, once again staging a protest against Metropolitan Theodosiy. One of the defendant's lawyers, Volodymyr Yudin, could not enter the courtroom for 20 minutes as activists detained him. The judge started the hearing without the bishop's defender, and later the lawyer joined the proceedings. Yudin informed law enforcement about the activists' offensive behavior by writing a statement to the police.
The prosecutor requested the extension of the measure of restraint for Metropolitan Theodosiy in the form of nighttime house arrest. According to him, the risks continue to exist and even have increased.
Lawyer Tamara Hridenko requested to mitigate the measure of restraint for the bishop. According to her, he does not hide and has not given any reasons to think that he would, nor does he influence witnesses.
"There is an opportunity to seek political asylum in several countries, but I am interested in an objective consideration of the case. If I go abroad, curators will celebrate. I won't give them that pleasure. Don't worry, I won't go anywhere, I won't give them that reason to celebrate. I am in Ukraine and plan to live here until the end of my life," said the defendant.
According to Metropolitan Theodosiy, the current restrictions hinder him from participating in services since he is forced to go home to the Kyiv region every night.
The judge ruled to extend the nighttime house arrest for the metropolitan from 22:00 to 5:00 until July 27.
The witness who was supposed to be questioned at the court hearing did not appear.

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On May 26, activists of the OCU in the village of Zaritsk, Rivne region, initiated a regular meeting near the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
According to "Suspilne" - TV channel, activists are not satisfied with the schedules of alternate services in the church.

Back on February 18, when supporters of Epiphany's structure tried to take away the temple, thevUOC parishioners compromised. Schedules of alternate services in in the shrine were proposed and approved: real parishioners of the temple pray from 7:00-12:00, and supporters of the OCU from 12:00-14:00.
Moreover, the rector of the temple again listened the cleric of the OCU (who is indicated as the acting rector) and agreed to hand over the temple once a month in the morning.

Now a group of activists demands that the shrine be handled more than once as month in the morning. They also trying to re-register the church.

The UOC parishioners no longer agree with the conditions of the OCU supporters, who do not even hide the fact that they are not part of this temple religious community.

As a result, the activists voted to appeal to the Rivne Regional Military Administration with a request to transfer the church to them. The RMA replied that they did not have such powers.
The AH reported that the temple is owned by the parish of the UOC.

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The head of "European Solidarity" urged to question deputies about the "true reasons" for not wanting to vote for the law banning the UOC.The fifth President of Ukraine, MP Petro Poroshenko told journalists that at the conciliation council in the Verkhovna Rada, everyone voted to consider the anti-church bill 8371 in the second reading, the press service of "European Solidarity" reports.
To put the bill to a vote in the Verkhovna Rada hall, 226 signatures of MPs are required. According to Poroshenko, there are already more than 100 signatures of MPs.
"But today, part of the mono-majority received instructions not to sign. And then I ask you as journalists – please make sure that today the list of signatories be published and then ask those who opt out of signing the law – what are the real reasons? Instructions from the Opposition Platform - For Life or instructions from Bankova? Honestly, I don't like either answer because it is about the destruction of parliamentarism," Poroshenko noted.
As the UOJ reported, the Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine criticized bill 8371, which is aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

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