Court orders police to open 10 criminal cases against Kyiv Lavra "activists"

One of the provocateurs, “the magician Belial,” shouts insults at the participants in the service at the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Photo: screenshot of the video of the Telegram channel “Pershy Kozatsky”

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv has ordered the district police department to open 10 criminal cases against anti-church "activists" who obstruct the worship of the UOC near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, insult the religious feelings of believers, and commit other offenses. This was reported by Father Nikita Chekman, the monastery's lawyer, on his Telegram channel.

He explained that from September 12 to November 27, 2023, Lavra's lawyers sent 16 statements to the Pechersk Police Department regarding the commission of criminal offenses by "activists": 13 under Article 180, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (obstructing the performance of a religious rite), 2 under Article 161, Part 3 (incitement of religious enmity and hatred, insult to the feelings of citizens based on their religious beliefs, combined with deception, committed by an organized group), and 1 under Article 125, Part 1 (intentional infliction of light bodily harm).

All these statements were ignored by the police, and the necessary information was not entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations. Therefore, the monastery's lawyers filed 16 complaints with the court about the inaction of the police. The court has already considered and satisfied 10 of them. Eight enforceable court decisions have been sent to the Pechersk Police Department, but law enforcement officials have opened only 2 cases (under Article 180, Part 1 of the Criminal Code), while the rest are being ignored.

According to Father Nikita, the leadership of the district police instructs the execution of court decisions on entering information into the Unified State Register of Pre-trial Investigations to the Service of Patrol Inspectors and the Criminal Investigation Service, although only the investigators and inquiry officers are authorized to do so.

In connection with this, Lavra's lawyers have filed six petitions with the police for information on the implementation of court decisions and for extracts from the Unified State Register of Pre-trial Investigations. However, law enforcement officers also ignored these petitions. Therefore, lawyers have prepared materials for an appeal to the State Bureau of Investigations with statements about criminal offenses by police officers under Article 382 of the Criminal Code (failure to comply with a court decision).

As the UOJ reported previously, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who came to the prayer standing near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on November 22, 2023, strongly condemned the actions of "activists" trying to interfere with the prayers of UOC believers.

Read also

In Ukraine, Trump’s 'spiritual advisor' reassured of religious freedom

Pastor Mark Burns stated that Ukraine, despite the war, is a "beacon of religious freedom."